Coast Guard Swimmer Who Rescued 165 from Camp Mystic amid Texas Floods Speaks Out: 'Real Heroes Were the Kids on the Ground'

Yahoo

07-07-2025

Scott Ruskin, a rescue swimmer for the U.S. Coast Guard, helped coordinate the rescue of 165 people at Camp Mystic amid the deadly flooding in Central Texas on Friday, July 5
He set out with a team on what would be his first mission in the role, saying, "I just happened to be on the duty crew"
"They just know, 'Hey this guy is a professional, and he's here to help us.' And I kind of had to live up to that standard," he reflected of the children that he encountered amid the rescueA young Coast Guard rescue swimmer is being hailed as a hero after saving 165 people at Camp Mystic amid the devastating flooding in Texas.
Around 7 a.m. on Friday, July 4, Scott Ruskin was on duty at the U.S. Coast Guard's Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas when the call came in for his team to respond to deadly flooding that was sweeping across Central Texas.
"I just happened to be on the duty crew," the 26-year-old New Jersey native said while appearing on the Monday, July 7, episode of Good Morning America.
He noted that a flight between Corpus Christi, Texas, and Hunt, Texas, would usually only take about an hour. However, "some pretty serious weather" led to "some of the worst flying we've ever dealt with."
Ruskin estimated that the flight actually took between seven and eight hours. Once they arrived, they landed at Camp Mystic, a girl's camp located along the Guadalupe River.
"We decided to leave me on scene at Camp Mystic. That was kind of our main triage site we were trying to help out with," he recalled, explaining that the thought process was that it would free up more space on the rescue helicopter so that victims could be taken to safety.
He continued, saying, "I kind of discovered I was the only person there as far as first responders go. So I had about 200, kids mostly. All scared, terrified, cold, having probably the worst day of their life. And I just kind of needed to triage them, get them to a higher level of care and get 'em off the flood zone."
The heroic first responder worked alongside members of the United States Army National Guard to get the people loaded and to safety.
"We kind of came up with two different landing zones. There was one off an archery field and then one in a soccer field. We were able to kind of land those 60s [rescue helicopters] in there. I was kind of the main guy as far as grabbing people," he said.
To get them to safety, Ruskin added that he was guiding groups of between 10 and 15 children and some of the adults on the scene. Their goal was to fly them to a different landing zone that "was kind of safe ad had more first responders than just myself."
Having completing his rescue swimmer training only six months prior, this was Ruskin's "first experience" saving lives at this magnitude.
"I really just kind of relied on the training we get. Coast Guard rescue swimmers get some of the highest level training in the world. So really just kind of relied on that, just knowing that any of the rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard would have done the exact same if not better than me," he said.
He was also bolstered by the children on the scene, who he knew were relying on his skills.
"They don't really know what my experience is or my rank or my age," he said. "They just know, 'Hey this guy is a professional, and he's here to help us.' And I kind of had to live up to that standard."
While Ruskin has been hailed as a hero, he has a different perspective: "The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground," he told GMA. "Those guys are heroic, and they were dealing with some of the worst times of their lives, and they were staying strong. That helped inspire me to get in there and help them out."
Ruskin joined the Coast Guard in 2021, according to the New York Post.
'So we basically got the majority of the people out of Camp Mystic, which is awesome. And I feel like we did a lot of good that day, but obviously it's still super sad,' he told the Post. 'There's still a lot of people missing and unaccounted for, so the mission's not over yet. It's not over for us.
In an official statement, Camp Mystic confirmed that 27 campers and counselors perished in the floods. According to reporting by CNN, 10 of the campers and one counselor are also among the missing.
"Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly," the organization wrote, adding, "We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from community, first responders, and officials at every level."
Among the dead is the camp's owner Richard "Dick" Eastland.
"[H]is last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers," a friend, Paige W. Sumner, wrote in tribute to the Eastland, who is survived by his wife and co-director Tweety Eastland, in the Kerrville Daily Times.
The current death toll amid the flooding has risen to at least 82 people with more missing, according to the latest estimates by CNN.
As the area continues to suffer from rain, the US National Weather Service for Austin-San Antonio announced on Facebook that a flood watch remains in effect through 7 p.m. on Monday, July 7.
To learn how to help support the victims and recovery efforts from the Texas floods, click here.
Read the original article on People