Dag Otto (67) looks questioning and thinks a bit.
– Is age really “just” a number? I say it myself, that age is just a number. It is perhaps a bit misleading, he says.
– The message should be: Don’t let age prevent you from living a fulfilling life! As a good adult, you need regular activity to achieve that, with or without help.
The former professional cyclist has reached retirement age, but maintains an impressively high pace with TV programs such as “Kompani Lauritzen”, “Huskestue”, “Tour de France”, “Arctic Race, Tour of Norway” and motivational lectures around the country.
Now he is also a paid ambassador for VilMer, which offers “solutions for person-centred care”, exercise, activity and socialisation. With the main focus on the elderly in society.
STAS: Gunnhild Pettersen from Oslo is very happy with VilMer’s offer of an everyday friend – and it’s extra great when Dag Otto comes by. Photo: Svein Brimi
“Fortunately, my health is still cooperative,” smiles the grim reaper and knocks his fist twice on the wooden table in front of him to be safe. Like most others, he also has some ailments to contend with. They keep him in check with regular training.
– My commitment was really ignited a couple of years ago when my little sister Hanne (64) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he says.
Little sister with Alzheimer’s
– I am the older brother of three sisters. Hanne is the next youngest. She has always been a caring person. She is a substitute mother of three and has one son of her own, and two years ago she became the proud grandmother of a little girl.
– Dementia is a creeping disease. We noticed that Hanne had become forgetful, but like most people in such a situation, she was good at covering it up. It’s scary to notice. When she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it took a toll on the whole family. It is very sad to experience that those closest to you slowly forget you and all the memories you share.
MOTHER MARIE (NOW 87): – Here, mother is holding little sister Hanne (64) on her lap. Heidi (65) and I are standing next to me. Little sister Vibeke (50) had not yet been born and was entered later, says Dag Otto. Photo: Private
He has already been through that process with his father, Rolf Lauritzen.
– My physical role model ended up sitting motionless in a chair. It was tough to witness!
Dag Otto therefore has an idea of what awaits the family in the future.
– Dad was demented for several years. Towards the end, he needed round-the-clock care and lived at Berge Gård in Grimstad. He enjoyed going for walks, but eventually couldn’t find his way back.
– He called the employees angels, but even the best among us are in a hurry. There was rarely enough time to join him on walks. I think many people miss and need such help.
Geir Selbæk, Head of Research at the National Center for Aging and Health, has no doubt that visits and social gatherings are of great importance for health.
– At its core, it is about loneliness, which is one of the factors we know is strongly linked to poor health. Having someone you can do activities with, and be familiar with, will be able to counteract loneliness, and thus have a preventive effect against several diseases and health problems, he says.
Read also: (+) Both my parents were affected. What should I take care of if I were to become demented?
Lost his father
Dag Otto’s father died last summer, aged 90.
– I will never forget the joy in his eyes when we came to visit. True, he forgot we had been there as we walked out the door, but the visit still meant something. If you have a person with dementia in the family: Give them as many good moments as possible. Maybe they remember it in their dreams?
FATHER AND SON: Although Dag Otto is a busy guy, he knows how to take good care of those closest to him. The father Rolf, who died last summer, was often visited by his son. Photo: Private
Now he is there again with his little sister Hanne.
– Half a year ago she came to Feviktun housing and care centre. They take good care of her there. Like her father, she calls the staff angels. I think it’s nice to visit her. She still remembers memories from the old days better than I do.
– The present, on the other hand… In clear moments, she understands that it is no longer possible to live alone at home. Other times she calls me, cries and wants to go home. What perhaps pleases her the most is having her grandchild visit. Then Hanne lights up!
She has a different type of dementia than her father had.
– I myself sit on “Huskestue” with Kristian Ødegård, and get a little scared when I can’t come up with the answers I should be able to, he adds humorously.
– No, I don’t walk around afraid of becoming demented. It does no one any good to think like that. Instead, I ask myself – what can I do to contribute?
A familiar face can hopefully open some doors, or promote an important cause.
Also read: Monica (51) started behaving strangely at work. The diagnosis came as a shock
Dag Otto’s upbringing
Dag Otto believes that his childhood made him robust – in a good way.
– Both our parents were active outdoorsmen, but especially dad took us children out with him. He was a bit strict, but has been my big motivator when it comes to being active.
Growing up in the 50s and 60s meant he used his legs to and from most things. Since the mother was a “homemaker” and the father a teacher, they had long holidays together. Every Easter, the family skied for three or four hours to a stable in Setesdalen.
– I was only three years old the first time. The everyday trim became a good habit from childhood. Today, the lack of exercise in everyday life is a challenge for Norwegian public health.
COZY AT HOME: Marie and Rolf Laurizen with their two eldest. Dag Otto on his father’s lap and Heidi (65) on her mother’s. Photo: Private
At the age of 18, Dag Otto joined the military – and enjoyed it immensely. He finished as a paratrooper.
The certainty that he had mastered the hellish week at the hunting school would later give him strength when facing new mental and physical challenges.
– Then I grit my teeth and say to myself – I’ll definitely be able to do this, he grins.
Also read: These are the participants in “Kompani Lauritzen” 2024
Couldn’t go
It has been close on several occasions. When he was 23 and a newly qualified police officer, a parachute drop at a rehearsal exercise in Finnmark went wrong.
By then he had already moved in with Ellen, the woman in his life. Together they have two children and four grandchildren.
– I couldn’t walk after the accident, he recalls and looks surprised.
– Yes, today it’s strange to think about, he thinks.
Although one leg remained a little stiff, he made a fresh commitment to a new career as a professional cyclist.
Four years later he won, among other things, an Olympic medal.
– I have learned that most things are possible, says the cheerful southerner.
There is something genuine in his commitment that makes it contagious.
– If you, who are reading this, struggle to move, he says to you, the reader – know that you can manage a little more. I guarantee that it will give you greater joy in life.
Dag Otto sits thoughtfully.
– It takes so little, it comes suddenly.
– Those of us who are healthy enough should help the many who are alone at home or in nursing homes! Just one or two hours a week might change someone’s life. We must help each other into old age. If you’re lucky enough to live a long life – maybe one day you – and I – will need help.
Apart from the certainty that it is possible to buy help, there are few bright spots when talking about dementia and old age.
Read also: (+) Mom, I think you know why we don’t come to visit you
HAPPY: – Being positive gives me a lot of energy, says Dag Otto – and we feel it. Photo: Gry Traaen
Program manager at “Kompani Lauritzen”
Rather, we focus on a TV program that has pleased over one million TV 2 viewers for four years, “Kompani Lauritzen”.
On 2 March, celebrity season five kicked off, 14 new recruits will be tested in bone-chilling exercises – this time at Bømoen camp in Voss.
Day Otto lights up.
– This season is very special, he promises.
– The participants became very attached to each other. We had a great time in beautiful Voss. He thinks everyone is looking forward to seeing the finished cut of the series.
– For example, not everything the colonel finds out has to happen. The news is that we had an open day. Then the locals were invited into the camp. That very day, September 12, I turned 67, and to my horror a surprise awaited. What? You’ll have to wait and see, he says mysteriously.
– Honestly, my birthday wish is rather zero attention!
Also read: Kristian Ødegård pays tribute to Dag Otto: – He is real, whole and everything he does is done with heart
The friendship with Kristian Ødegård
The reason why Dag Otto became a regular part of the entertainment industry, he believes, is Kristian Ødegård (49). The two became acquainted in 2007, when Kristian was the presenter of “Skal vi danse”, and Dag Otto was close to withdrawing as a participant.
– A good chat with Kristian changed a lot, he says.
– We started talking about bicycles. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested he was. If possible, Kristian knew even more names of riders than me.
Kristian was invited to create “On wheels with Dag Otto” and since then one program after another with the two friends has become viewer favourites: “On wheels with Dag Otto”, “On a trip with Dag Otto”, “Huskestue” and ” Kompani Lauritzen”.
– Life is full of coincidences, and that is exciting, Dag Otto thinks.
– Kristian is very talented, but we are quite different. He is much more careful than I am. I tend to say that we complement each other.
GOOD MOMENTS: Dag Otto himself says that he lives to create good moments, whether it’s on the TV screen or when he meets people on his way. Photo: Svein Brimi
Soon they will start making “Tropp 3”.
– We never cease to be amazed at how seriously the participants enter the role of soldiers. Some of the celebrities come with labels, like being called a diva. With us, we do not notice such or other whims.
They evaluate both during and after the participation.
– ‘We have been given tools to take with us further in life’, are words that keep repeating. The fact that we have managed to create something that is about good values is incredibly fun! Although it is a competition, all show what we hope to see – an ability to work together and take care of each other.
He also gets a lot of touching feedback from TV viewers.
– A mother wrote that her young daughter had suffered from food refusal for many years. She was close to losing her life. According to her mother, Kompani Lauritzen had given her a surprising new glow. She wrote that her daughter had gained several kilos and had become a happy girl. Such messages make it meaningful to schedule even more programs. I live for the joy of creating good moments.
This matter was first published on 26/03 2024, and last updated on 26/03 2024.