In the chaos of the deadly Texas floods, one Coast Guard swimmer stood alone on a field surrounded by fear and rising water. Petty Officer Scott Ruskan, a 26-year-old rescue swimmer from Warren, New Jersey, was dispatched with his crew from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi on July 4. What was supposed to be a one-hour flight to Central Texas turned into an eight-hour battle through violent storms. Eventually, they reached their target: Camp Mystic, a summer retreat for girls nestled along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. But once the helicopter touched down, the mission changed dramatically.

His team made a quick call. Ruskan would stay behind to coordinate rescues, allowing the aircraft to carry more evacuees. As the helicopter lifted off, he became the only trained responder on the ground with nearly 200 campers and staff, many of them barefoot and terrified.

“There was no communication for about three hours,” Ruskan told KHOU. “My job was just to comfort the kids and keep them calm until help could get to them.”

Photo: USCG / Perry Shirzad, License: Public Domain

Scott Ruskan saved 165 people on his very first rescue mission.

Children in Crisis

The floodwaters had risen faster than anyone could react. Roads vanished. Bridges buckled. Boats couldn’t reach the camp. Ruskan quickly organized the group into evac units of 10 to 15 children and adults, escorting them to helicopter landing zones set up on a soccer and archery field.

“I was kind of the main guy as far as grabbing people,” he told People.

It was his first official mission since completing rescue swimmer training just six months prior.

“I just happened to be on the duty crew,” he said on *Good Morning America*. But Ruskan carried himself like a veteran.

“They don't really know what my experience is or my rank or my age,” he added. “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.”

Photo: USCG / Perry Shirzad, License: Public Domain

Ruskan braved eight hours of dangerous flight conditions to reach the site.

Rising Death Toll and Real-Time Heroism

Camp Mystic became a grim focal point of the broader disaster. According to NJ 101.5, the camp’s director Richard “Dick” Eastland was among the 27 confirmed dead from the site, which also included both campers and staff. CNN has reported at least 102 fatalities across the state, with many still missing.

Despite the overwhelming loss, Ruskan and his team helped rescue 165 people from the camp alone.

“So we basically got the majority of the people out of Camp Mystic, which is awesome,” he told the New York Post. “But obviously, it’s still super sad. There’s still a lot of people missing and unaccounted for, so the mission’s not over yet.”

The scene was raw. Counselors were seen carrying children barefoot over sharp rocks. One even told Ruskan they were “throwing kids out the door” into helicopters to get them out of danger, KHOU reported. Many of the children had no shoes, no coats, and no idea what would happen next.

Photo: YouTube / CBS TEXAS

Ruskan created two landing zones for helicopters to rotate in and out.

Quiet Strength and Humility

To those who watched the rescue unfold, Ruskan is a hero. But the title doesn’t sit easily with him.

“I’m just a dude,” he said in an interview with KHOU. “Anyone can do this if they raise their right hand.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem disagreed. In a statement shared via NJ 101.5, she called his actions “selfless courage” and said they embodied “the spirit and mission of the U.S. Coast Guard.” Ruskan, a Rider University graduate and former track athlete, has been called an “American hero” from Texas to his hometown in New Jersey.

But he remains focused on those who were truly in danger. “The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground,” he told People. “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.”

Rescue, Resilience, and What Comes Next

Though the rescues at Camp Mystic are complete, Central Texas remains under a flood watch. The National Weather Service in Austin-San Antonio warned that saturated soil and continued rainfall may cause additional flash flooding. For Ruskan, the mission continues.

There are still families searching for loved ones, still counselors reeling from trauma, and still a long road to rebuilding. But in the middle of one of the worst natural disasters Texas has ever faced, a young man from New Jersey showed what the Coast Guard stands for.

Not by diving into the water, but by standing in place. Calm. Ready. Human.