Dean Wilson Just Had the 'Toughest Weekend' of His Life — What Happened?

British motocross racer Dean Wilson earned a major victory during the Australian Supercross Championship, but his mind was not totally focused on the competition. As Dean explained in an Instagram post after coming away with a win, he had one of the "toughest weekends" of his life. Given how emotional he was throughout the weekend, many wanted to better understand what happened to him.

Thankfully, Dean has offered a pretty succinct explanation for why he was so emotional. Here's what we know.

As Dean explained, he lost his mom to cancer during the competition, and could not be with her as she died because of his obligations to race.

"The toughest weekend of my life. I lost my mum the morning of Race day for Round 2 of @ausxsupercross. Unfortunately she lost her battle with cancer. I’m hurt & I’m broken inside. I feel like she took a piece of me when she left us. I had to carry on with my day and race & that’s exactly what she would want me to do," he wrote on Instagram.

"Me & my mum were like glue, she was my rock. All I can say is I hope my son has the relationship with his mum like I had with mine. Hug your mum tell her you love her. It’s over quicker than you know," he continued.

"I ended up taking the win with a 1-1. My mum's final words to me were “I will always be with you, I will now be your guardian angel.'"

Understandably, then, it was an emotional weekend for Dean.

Following the news that he had lost his mother, and the revelation that he couldn't be there for her, people flooded the comments on his Instagram post to offer their sympathy.

"Your mum would be so proud mate. Great job digging deep. Glad we were able to spend many good times with your family. Thinking of you," one person wrote.

"Your Mum was the most amazing woman. I’m so sad she’s gone. I will miss that accent and beautiful smile. I’m so sorry for your whole family. My heart breaks for u," another person added.

We don't know what kind of cancer she had, but it's clear that Dean was deeply emotional about losing her, and that he let that emotion motivate him to compete on the track.

Losing a parent is one of the hardest things a person can go through, and people react to it in wildly different ways. For Dean, it seems to have been a moment for him to consider how much gratitude he has for the people around him, and for the life he gets to live.

As one of the most successful athletes in motocross, Dean's competitive spirit is hard to match. That's likely one of many things that he got, at least in part, from his mother.