Alister McQueen took silver in javelin at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Friday and his parents back in Calgary could not be more proud.

"Tears and hugs and jumping up and down. Just wow," his mother Cheryl McQueen told CBC News Saturday.

She says medals are always the goal, but it's still a bit of a surprise.

"It is always amazing when it happens but we weren't really expecting it. We knew that he would do well, we know that he had some pretty tough competition but it was pretty amazing when it happened. It was surreal. We were just in awe. We kept asking ourselves, 'Did he just get silver?' It was amazing," Cheryl said.

The 25-year-old's father, Steve McQueen, said the results took a while to sink in, even for Alister.

"He said after his fifth throw that he started crying, so he knew he had done pretty well," Steve explained.

Cheryl says she spoke with her son shortly after the win.

McQueen claimed second place in the javelin F44 event with a throw of 55.56m on Day 2 of the Rio Paralympic Games. 0:56

"I asked him, 'What are you feeling?' He sounded just like himself, like he always does. He's a pretty grounded kid. He was afraid to go to sleep because he wasn't sure if he would wake up and it would all just be a dream."

She says, despite other wins and medals, this silver is likely her son's greatest achievement so far.

"By far," Cheryl said.

"This is something that I think everybody would dream of and he has done it."