Tardy Scot becomes South American internet star

Jim Dunbar whose chronic lateness was diagnosed as a medical condition has become an internet sensation. Picture: Hemedia

Jim Dunbar, 57, jetted off to Barcelona earlier this year to film a commercial which shows him talking about how his life has been troubled by his tardiness.

And the clip has now gone viral in Spanish-speaking countries around the world.

Jim was diagnosed with having a form of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) after missing weddings, funerals and work.

But since revealing his troubles, the former council worker has been offered job opportunities on TV - including a documentary in Japan.

His first showbiz job was an advert for the Spanish travel firm Atrapalo (corr), which has now received more than 30,000 views online.

Jim, from Carnoustie, is shown being late for the cinema, as well as a funeral and a ferry.

And the two-minute video has been shown across the whole of South America as well as Spain.

In the video, Jim talked about how being chronically late has affected his life and his relationships with family and friends.

He said: “Most of the time I arrive late. It’s something that’s affected my whole life.

“It’s affected my relationship with my parents, my friends and with women.

“The day they gave me my diagnosis, I was 20 minutes late. The doctor had to wait.

“A little while ago I went to the cinema - the film started at 7pm leaving 11 hours to get ready but I got there 20 minutes late.

“My friends no longer want to go on holiday with me because once we organised a trip where we had to get a ferry - I ended up missing the ferry.”

He said the travel company has already been in touch to say how pleased they are with the final product.

Jim spent a week in Barcelona filming the ad and is also in talks with a Japanese television company about featuring in a documentary there.

There is also a competition on the website which invites viewers to guess how late Jim will be before a flight to Japan that he is set to take.

And Jim has been given his own Twitter hashtag - #laporraDunbar.

A poster on the website also features Jim saying: “I don’t get a tan, when I arrive at the beach it’s night time.”

Jim has tackled this problem his entire life and can remember being late for school as a five-year-old.

Until his diagnosis almost two years, he blamed himself for being late.

Starring in the advert has given him hope though, that more people will become aware of the condition.

Jim said: “I was most impressed with the part of the advert where I was in the cinema and they turn the ‘open’ sign to closed.

“I thought that my actions looked very realistic when I saw it.

“When I was out there, I was treated like a film star. It was one of the best times of my life.

“When I was out there, the feedback was very positive and the people in Spain emailed me to say they were delighted with the finished article.

“I looked at it myself and I thought I came across better than I had thought I did. I was really happy with the outcome.

“I never thought my story would be getting translated. It’s ridiculous to see it going worldwide and I am astounded at how far it has gone.

“Hopefully, now there will be people in Catalonia with the illness who see it.

“My primary objective was to alert people to the illness, so, hopefully, people with the illness won’t suffer any longer.”