MXP Chatter With Dean Wilson Presented By Motovan

Over the past few years Dean Wilson has had to face more adversity that most people have to face in a lifetime. Injuries and setbacks have been a tough reality for Deano in recent seasons, but at the end of the day he just keeps pushing forward and trying to be better. During the early part of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Series Dean was battling every weekend and up until his crash in St Louis he was okay with his results, but also frustrated that at times they weren’t better. Sadly, the St Louis round would be Dean’s final SX of 2022 as he suffered a life threatening injury after crashing in the whoops. Now, here we are over a month later and Dean is still dealing with his injury and most likely will be for some time. Last week he released his latest YouTube Vlog where he goes into great detail about his crash, his scary injury, as well as what his recovery has involved. We caught up with Dean as he was relaxing at home on a quiet Monday evening.

MXP: Hey Dean, how are you tonight?

DW: I’m doing good mate! How are you Palms?

I’m doing well thanks. So I watched your latest Vlog and OMG is that one deep cut. How are you feeling now?

Oh, you watched that? Good, so you got to see my ass(laughs). Yeah, it was a good one that’s for sure. At the time I didn’t know what was going on or how serious it was. The Alpinestar Medical crew was kind of freaking out because there was just so much blood everywhere and they weren’t able to get me across the track and to a safe place to work on me. I ended up just standing there while they wrapped me up and tried to stop the bleeding. It went from a simple crash to something serious pretty quickly.

In your video, you show the cut and considering your footpeg got you it’s a pretty clean cut. Looks like you got lucky in that regard?

Yes, it end up being a clean-cut but what caused the real damage was that I cut an artery so that is why I had so much blood loss. At the time I figured they would just put me in the Alpinestar Medical truck, patch me up and I’d be good to go. But they told me that I had to go in the ambulance and get to the hospital as fast as possible. I obviously didn’t want to have to take an ambulance but my situation was life-threatening.

That does sound very serious. Looking back at your crash I feel like you get really unlucky with first getting sideways in the whoops, but then you hit the finish line metal structure which stopped you pretty quick. Do you remember it all?

Oh yeah, I remember it all as when I crash I didn’t hit that hard, it was just the way the front end rode up the structure it bucked me off and I slid over the footpeg. It was just such a bummer as I was slowly starting to feel more and more comfortable with the bike and everything.

Since you turned pro and started racing SX the whoops have been one of your best sections on the track, but this year you struggled a little in them. What was different this year?

It’s been really frustrating as like you said, I’ve always been strong in the whoops. This year I think I crashed like five times in the whoops, and obviously the one in St Louis caused this injury. I think it’s a few things that were different this year. The track crew did build some of them a little different than in years past and that caused a few riders some trouble. However, this year we have a new model bike it reacts differently than the old bike. From the opening round in Anaheim, we’ve been trying to find settings that work and can give us some comfort. Halfway through the series, we were getting close to figuring things out but then I got hurt.

Was there one thing with the new bike that you struggled with or was it multiple things?

I think overall the bike is just different and we needed a year to get it right. Back in the off-season when we got the new model we didn’t have a lot of parts to test from Austria due to supply chain issues. So our testing window before Anaheim 1 was a short one. So really right from the opening round and throughout the series, we were racing and testing at the same time. It was just challenging but we were working through it and the bike was getting better.

From what I’ve heard about the new model is that Husqvarna worked hard and made it better for riding on outdoor tracks by making the wheelbase longer etc. However, when you do that it takes away from how good a bike works on tight SX tracks.

For sure, but having said that it was frustrating that we all of sudden were struggling in the whoops. Anyway, we were beginning to get things figured out but then I crashed in St Louis.

Okay, back to your injury. We’re over a month into your recovery, how are you feeling now?

I’m feeling better and better each week. The cut is still healing and it has to heal from the inside out. My poor wife still has to pack it with gauze so I don’t know where I’d be without her. She’s a saint that’s for sure. Another issue is that I lost so much blood that it made me Anemic, so my energy is still really low and I’m trying to build back my iron levels. That is going to take a while for sure. Oh, and I also got a Staph infection a few weeks ago so I was on some pretty strong antibiotics for that. It’s such a bad deal but I’m getting better slowly and soon I’ll start thinking about training.

That does sound like a challenging ordeal Dean. But I guess that was my next question, once you’ve healed up completely and your blood levels return to normal what is the plan?

Good question! Right now the plan is to return to Florida in June and hopefully begin training and getting my strength back. It’s amazing how fast you lose your cardio and muscle mass when you’re not doing anything. So, hopefully, I can get back to training in June, and then if all goes as planned I can join the National Series halfway through the summer.

That sounds like a great plan and one that I hope works out. Deano, you’re a true inspiration and your resiliency is incredible. Did I read somewhere that 2022 was going to be your final year of racing?

No, I was planning on racing at least one more year after this. So that is why it would be good to get back for some Nationals and try and get some good results by the end of the season.

Definitely! Also, this past weekend you and your wife Sarah released the news that you guys are expecting your first child later this year. Congratulations, this is amazing news.

Thank you Palms! Yeah, we’re obviously excited as we’ve wanted to be parents for a long time. I cannot wait for this next chapter in our lives. We’ve known for like four months so it was getting hard to keep the secret from everyone.

I bet it was. Well, I know that people always say how life-changing it is when you finally become a parent, but it really is. The first time you hold your new baby Dean you’re life is going to take on a new meaning. Anyway, congratulations and I think you need to plan on racing in Canada at least one more summer before you retire. It would be a perfect bookend to your career.

Well, that would be cool but we’ll figure things out then. I have work to do in the USA first.

It was great chatting with you Dean. All the best and we cannot wait to see you back on the track later this summer!

Thank you for calling Palms and please say hi to everyone up in Canada.