It was Petty Officer Scott Ruskan’s first deployment as a rescue swimmer with the U.S. Coast Guard. At just 26 years old, he was a newcomer to the service, having recently transitioned from a career in accounting. Roughly six months had passed since he completed rescue swimmer training when his team received an urgent call early Friday morning from Task Force 1, a local search-and-rescue group in Texas.
Severe flooding had devastated central Texas over the July Fourth weekend, leaving dozens dead and many others unaccounted for. Ruskan’s team was urgently needed.
They launched their mission around 7 a.m. Friday from Corpus Christi, located about 200 miles south of Kerr County, where the Guadalupe River had surged dramatically—from roughly 3 feet to nearly 30 feet.
The floodwaters had ravaged several youth camps along the river’s edge, including Camp Mystic, the all-girls Christian summer camp they were assigned to reach.
According to Ruskan, around 200 campers were stranded and in immediate need of rescue. With roads and bridges submerged and boat rescues impossible due to the high waters, airlifting the girls was the only viable option.
A call for rescue
At Camp Mystic, counselors and staff had been frantically working to save the campers — pushing some girls through cabin windows and using mattresses as makeshift rafts to help them float above the rising floodwaters.
The area had been inundated with more than a month’s worth of rain in a short span, submerging the entire camp under a deluge of water.
Hundreds of first responders from local, state, and federal agencies had rushed to Kerrville to search for and rescue survivors.
The emergency response included Black Hawk helicopters from the Texas National Guard and Air National Guard, highlighting the severity of the situation.
What was supposed to be a one-hour flight to the camp’s landing zone ended up taking nearly six or seven hours, Ruskan told CNN.
The crew had to navigate through “some pretty nasty weather,” he said — some of the worst conditions he had ever faced in his career.
It wasn’t until their fourth attempt, with help from the Air National Guard, that they managed to push through the intense storm.
From the air, Ruskan witnessed the overwhelming destruction left by the floods. “I’ve never seen anything this tragic in my life,” he said.
Once on the ground, he realized he was the only first responder present — greeted by nearly 200 frightened, shivering children, all enduring one of the most terrifying days of their lives.
But shortly after arriving at Camp Mystic, Ruskan and his team were called away to respond to another site — one deemed even more dangerous.
The aircraft could carry more evacuees at the next rescue site if Ruskan stayed behind, and he could still provide critical support where he was.
The crew ultimately decided that the best course of action was to leave Ruskan at Camp Mystic to act as a triage coordinator at the increasingly chaotic scene.
Without him on board, the aircraft was able to evacuate 15 children from the other location.
Back at the camp, Ruskan focused on comforting the frightened children who had been moved to higher ground, safely above the floodwaters. He listened as camp counselors recounted how they had desperately rushed to get kids out of cabins before they filled with water.
Some of the campers had cuts on their feet, having escaped barefoot with no time to grab shoes in the rush to flee.
For nearly three hours, Ruskan said he was the only rescue worker on site, with no way to communicate due to failed radio signals and lack of cell service.
Despite the isolation and urgency, he pushed aside any fear to focus on caring for the children.
These kids are probably living through the worst day of their lives,” he said. “They’re missing their friends, missing their families. They don’t know where they are. Some might still be unaccounted for. Others may have ended up somewhere else.
A Hero in the Flood: Coast Guard Swimmer’s First Mission Saves Dozens of Campers
Ruskan did everything he could to comfort the shocked and frightened campers, assuring them they would be rescued and that other teams were out searching for their missing friends.
“Sometimes, comfort was as simple as holding their hand,” he said.
Aircraft from the Texas Air National Guard eventually landed in the camp’s archery and soccer fields. Ruskan organized small groups of 10 to 15 children at a time and guided them to the helicopters, prioritizing the youngest for evacuation.
In total, he helped rescue around 165 campers, even carrying some of them to the aircraft to keep them from slipping on the wet rocks or injuring their feet further.
Despite the heroic rescue efforts, 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic tragically lost their lives in the flooding, and 10 campers along with one counselor remain missing.
The camp’s longtime director, Dick Eastman, also died while attempting to save the children.
So far, the catastrophic floods have claimed the lives of at least 100 people.
Petty Officer Scott Ruskan’s Courageous First Rescue Amid Texas Flood Tragedy
Ruskan says the full impact of what he did is only now beginning to sink in.
The Department of Homeland Security has recognized him as an “American hero,” praising the “extraordinary bravery and selfless service” shown by him and his fellow first responders.
Yet Ruskan insists the real heroes also include the camp counselors who sprang into action and the courageous children who endured the ordeal.
Witnessing their strength and resilience, he said, “made me a better rescuer.
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