When 26-year-old Scott Ruskan woke up on July 4th, 2025, he probably didn’t expect to become a national hero by sunset. But sometimes life has other plans – especially when you’re a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer stationed in Texas during one of the state’s most devastating flood disasters.
The Call That Changed Everything
It was 7 a.m. on Independence Day when the alarm bells rang at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Corpus Christi. Ruskan, a New Jersey native who had been serving as an aviation survival technician for the past year, was on duty when the emergency call came in. Central Texas was drowning, and hundreds of lives hung in the balance.
What should have been a routine one-hour flight to Hunt, Texas, turned into an eight-hour nightmare journey through some of the worst weather conditions Ruskan had ever experienced. “Battling some pretty, pretty nasty weather, some of the worst I’ve ever experienced in my career so far,” he later recalled. “It took us about four different attempts to try to make our way into Kerrville.”
But here’s the kicker – this wasn’t just any mission for Ruskan. This was his first official rescue operation as a fully trained Coast Guard swimmer.
A Scene from a Nightmare
When Ruskan’s helicopter finally touched down at Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer camp nestled along the Guadalupe River, he was met with a scene that would haunt anyone. The river had surged an incredible 20 feet in just two hours, transforming the peaceful camp into a disaster zone.
“I got on scene, boots on the ground, Camp Mystic and discovered I was the only person there as far as first responders go,” Ruskan said. “I had 200 kids terrified, scared, cold.”
Picture this: nearly 200 frightened children, many barefoot and shivering, standing in floodwaters with no way out. Bridges had been swept away, roads were impassable, and the water was rising too high for boat rescues. The only escape route was by air.
The Hero’s Decision
Here’s where Ruskan’s story gets truly remarkable. After assessing the situation, his crew made a strategic decision that would save countless lives – they would leave him behind on the ground to coordinate the rescue while the helicopter flew to other dangerous areas to conduct additional rescues.
“We decided the best course of action was to leave me there,” Ruskan explained. As the sole first responder among 200 terrified children, he became their beacon of hope in the darkest moment of their lives.
More Than Just a Rescue
What sets Ruskan apart isn’t just his technical skills – it’s his humanity. While coordinating the massive evacuation effort, he took time to comfort each child, carrying them to safety when their feet were cut up from walking on wet rocks.
“It was pretty traumatic,” he admitted. “You have a lot of kids who are having probably the worst day of their life, they are missing friends, they are missing loved ones, they don’t know where they are.”
But Ruskan didn’t just see victims – he saw heroes. “The camp counselors and the kids too were being so brave and tough,” he said. “A lot of them I was able to get hands on with and tell them, ‘Seriously, you guys were the best. I’m sorry this happened to you but you guys were so brave and tough, and it made me a better rescuer because you guys were acting so bravely.'”
The Numbers That Matter
By the end of that harrowing day, Ruskan and his team had accomplished the impossible. Working alongside crew members Lieutenant Ian Hopper, Lieutenant Blair Ogujiofor, and Petty Officer Seth Reeves, plus members of the Army National Guard, they successfully evacuated 165 people from the flood zone.
The operation was a logistical masterpiece. Ruskan guided groups of 10 to 15 children at a time to two different landing zones – one in an archery field and another in an open field – where Army helicopters waited to transport them to safety.
From Accounting to Life-Saving
Perhaps the most inspiring part of Ruskan’s story is his journey to this moment. Originally an accounting major at Rider University, he quickly realized that crunching numbers wasn’t his calling – saving lives was. He was sworn into the Coast Guard during the height of the COVID pandemic, with his enlistment ceremony held right on Rider’s campus.
“Very proud. He is doing what he loves to do. This is exactly what he wants to do,” said his mother, Eileen Ruskan, when interviewed about her son’s heroic actions.
Recognition and Humility
The accolades came quickly. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised Ruskan as an “American hero,” and the White House echoed the sentiment. But true to form, Ruskan deflected the praise.
“I’m getting a lot of the attention for something that I think was expected of me and what every [U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer] would do in my shoes,” he wrote on Instagram. “The real heroes are the crew who flew us into this and the crews still working the mission.”
The Bigger Picture
While Ruskan’s heroics captured headlines, the tragedy at Camp Mystic was devastating. The camp confirmed that 27 campers and counselors lost their lives in the floods, with more than 80 people dying across the region. The disaster prompted President Trump to declare the floods a major disaster for Kerr County.
But in the midst of unimaginable tragedy, Scott Ruskan’s story reminds us that heroes walk among us – sometimes they’re just 26-year-old former accounting students who decided to dedicate their lives to saving others.
“This is what it’s all about, right?” Ruskan reflected. “This is why we do the job. This is why we take those risks all the time. This is why Coast Guard men and women are risking their lives every day.”
Sometimes the most extraordinary heroes are the ones who simply show up when duty calls – even if it’s their very first day on the job.
