– I didn’t know what I was getting into, I just knew I had to find a way, Arendalite Trond Friisø (57) told Dagbladet.

Trond was somewhat active “here and there” during his life. He mostly did ski trips, mountain trips and other activities that he found fun, he says.

– I’m not a fitness fanatic, but I like to follow things, he says.

However, Trond’s life was to be turned upside down on December 3, 2021, when he became paralyzed in one leg.

– I experienced it as a major life change, he says.

In other words, there was no sign that Trond, just a year and a half later, would complete its first – and probably its last – triathlon.

Agderposten mentioned the topic first.

Police on toll road

Called 113

We’re going back in time a bit.

Cold December air had chilled the married couple’s home in Arendal overnight in 2021. Trond thought it would be wise to close the glass door to the bedroom to save on the heat.

– The debate on electricity was in full swing. We never closed that door, just that night, Trond said.

It was a fateful choice.

In the middle of the night, Trond was woken up by the Baloo family cat wanting to get into the heat. His wife had just had surgery, and he thought he was going to let the cat in quickly, without waking her.

– I was about to slam the door open, like Kramer in Seinfeld, when I missed the doorknob and twisted. Instead, I fell backwards through the glass door, says the 57-year-old.

The door shattered from the impact and the glass opened Trond’s legs. He was awake and felt no pain, he said. The couple nevertheless decided to call 113.

– It was embarrassing to be so clumsy and create so much trouble for so many people, he said.

But the embarrassment quickly turned serious when the ambulance came to pick him up.

– The paramedic asked me if I could move my foot, I couldn’t. I then realized that something serious had happened.

In the emergency room in Arendal, he was placed in an induced coma and airlifted to Ullevål Hospital in Oslo.

– i feel obligated

The shards of glass from the door had severed two large nerves behind the knee of his left leg, Trond said. Within seconds, he was paralyzed from the knee down.

– The only thing the surgeon could promise me was that it wouldn’t be like before.

And it didn’t become that either, but it got better. Since the accident and the operation, Trond has regularly gone to rehabilitation, in addition to training on the side. He says he was determined to make the best of a bad situation.

– I have received so much help from others, and I feel compelled to do my part. Otherwise it’s a waste, says Trond.

This led to July 15 of last year. After a bike ride, he finally found sensations in his leg. Not much, but enough for him to touch his toes a few millimeters, and enough to be extremely motivated.

Here he realizes the huge mistake

Registered for a triathlon

Therefore, he and his daughter decided to sign up for the Hove Tri, a multi-distance triathlon.

This despite the fact that neither of them had run a triathlon before, and despite the fact that Trond still had little feeling in his legs. They didn’t have high hopes.

– We were terrified. We weren’t really looking forward to it, just to be done, says Trond.

They chose the shortest route with 500 meters of swimming, 21 kilometers of cycling and five kilometers of running. Athletes in this class had a maximum time of two hours and 30 minutes to complete.

– The goal was just to go as far as possible. We thought we were going to be kicked off the trail, he said.

Neither Trond nor his daughter were prosecuted. Two hours and eleven minutes after the tee shot, Trond crossed the finish line. His daughter eventually beat him by nearly five minutes.

– We were the last, but that didn’t mean anything.

Fallen on the red carpet

– Very strong

When Trond saw his daughter after the race, all the emotions came back. They embraced in tears, proud of what they had just accomplished together.

– It was very big. It was very strong to be able to do something that you worked on for too long and had so many doubts about. It was moving, says Trond.

They had succeeded in doing what, a short time ago, seemed almost impossible. The leg performed well, despite a little pain the next day.

– Of course, I was terribly lame the next day, but it’s just a good feeling.

He still has little sensation in his leg, but works every day to regain as much sensation as possible, he says.

– Are you going to run the Hove Tri next year?

– No, I do not want. Now that it’s done, you will find new challenges. I need something to motivate me. I keep working on rehabilitation even though it’s boring exercising my toes, but it’s work that needs to be done, says Trond.