FERMANAGH’S Adrian Dunbar has been revealed how he and his family narrowly escaped death when their car was blown up during a visit to the Holy Land thirty years ago.
In the same interview, the Enniskillen man said growing up during the Troubles led him to live everyday to the fullest.
Speaking on the Elizabeth Day’s ‘How to Fail’ podcast, Mr Dunbar said the incident in Jerusalem took place during the first Palestinian intifada, sometime between 1987 and 1991, when he was visiting with his wife and their children.
“We parked at the Nablus Gate and went into the old city,” said the Line of Duty star. “I heard a bomb go off. I looked up into the sky and I just knew it was our car.”
Mr Dunbar said he didn’t want to worry his family and went himself to survey the damage, which he said was “a mangled heap” but thankfully the family did not have anything important, such as their passports, inside.
During the same podcast, Mr Dunbar said growing up during the Troubles meant he was often wary of things other people wouldn’t be aware of when he moved to London, like when someone would leave a bag unattended.
“You would be wary of silly things, like seeing a car parked on its own, looking abandoned outside a public building,” he said. “You’d think, what’s that car doing there? It’s 2am and it’s on a double yellow line.”
Overall, Mr Dunbar said while he remembered “dangerous” drives at night during his days playing in bands, he did not believe he had been traumatised by the Troubles.
“You did see scary things that unnerved you, or you just missed things,” he said. “When you are late teens, there is an air of excitement about all that.
“There is an excitement about living through a time when you have to grasp as much as you can because it may be taken from you. You feel so alive, but I don’t’ think I have anything like post-traumatic stress disorder.”
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