Latest news with #ScottRuskan
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teen counselors and rookie rescue swimmer save dozens in Texas camp flood
A US coast guard rescue swimmer on his first rescue mission as well as teenage counselors who helped shepherd cold and wet young campers to safety have been credited with saving dozens of lives at a flood-ravaged Christian summer camp on the banks of Texas's Guadalupe River. Their stories of heroism and fortitude – including the counselors' writing young campers' names on their arms and legs with Sharpies so that authorities could identify them if necessary – are among the first to emerge recounting the grim reality of the torrent of water that surged Friday through the all-girls Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors are known to have died. As of Tuesday morning, a further five campers and one counselor remained unaccounted for. Coast Guard petty officer Scott Ruskan, 26, of Oxford, New Jersey, spoke of plucking mud-covered children to safety after his helicopter crew flew through appalling weather to reach the campsite in rural Hunt early Friday afternoon. He and his colleagues, he told the Washington Post, were greeted with scenes of devastation, and dozens of children, teenage camp counselors and staff desperate to escape. 'That's how quickly this floodwater rose,' he told the newspaper in a phone interview. 'They didn't have time to grab shoes. You're just carrying kids that don't have shoes on, they're covered in mud, and you're trying to get them out of there. 'Some of it was simply talking to them and consoling them and trying to make them feel comfortable.' Ruskan, who joined the Coast Guard in 2021 and qualified as a rescue swimmer only last year, is credited with saving at least 165 lives during the three hours he spent on the ground triaging children and adults, and prioritizing the evacuation of the neediest cases, many on board Texas national guard black hawk helicopters. Many of the counselors, he said, were not much older than the young girls they were chaperoning – and they deserved credit for their role in saving lives. He said some told him of throwing children through windows and doorways to escape the fast-rising floodwater. 'It was some really heroic stuff by those camp counselors,' Ruskan said. 'I really hope they get the recognition they deserve.' Two Camp Mystic counselors, 19-year-olds Silvana Garza Valdez and María Paula Zárate from Mexico, spoke to the Mexican news network Televisa about the ordeal, which they said began at about 3am on Friday when electricity to the camp went out. But it was not until about noon, they said, that counselors were informed that some areas of the sprawling 725-acre campsite had been flooded and survivors were gathered in a dining hall. The pair said the urgency of the situation was becoming clearer, and they began preparing girls in their care for what might be to come. 'We began writing the girls' names on their skin, wherever it could be visible,' Zárate said. 'We told them to make a bag with all their things, whatever was most necessary … to get ready to evacuate. But we didn't know if they were going to evacuate us or not, and so we waited.' They attempted to calm the frightened girls with songs and games as they watched furniture and other camp equipment washing by as the water rose higher. 'All the girls started going crazy and crying because they didn't want to leave the camp – because they wanted to be with their parents,' Garza Valdez said. 'It was a terrible situation. I don't know to explain it. It was something very awful.' She said she and those with her didn't initially realize others at the camp had died. 'What they spoke to us about at the time was that 25 girls were missing – and that two were found at a nearby campground alive and well.' They did not have their cellphones with them to be able to know more about the situation that was unfolding – or call their families – because the devices were kept in the camp's front office, Garza Valdez said. Their group was eventually rescued by a military team that arrived at the campsite at about the same time as the Coast Guard and national guard. 'I felt like I was in a dream – I didn't think it was true,' Garza Valdez said. 'I don't think I understood the gravity of the situation until we saw it leaving on the army trucks. It was terrible. A week before, we were sleeping in the [hardest-hit cabins], and so simply it was difficult to process that they had moved and that we are alive' because of that. Ruskan spoke of the frustration of not being able to reach Camp Mystic immediately. He told the Post that early reports of flooding were received by 6.30am Friday, and his crew was in the air by 7am – but had to redirect to San Antonio because of zero visibility. They finally landed in Hunt at 2.30pm, knocking over archery targets in a field from the helicopter's downdraft as they descended. The former financial consultant recalled that his trainers told him that his first rescue missions would be unlike anything they taught him to expect. 'That's kind of the point,' he said. 'The expectation is that everyone is looking for someone to not be a hero, but kind of help them out and get them situated. 'That's what they needed me to be, and that's what kind of was in this case.'
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Coast Guard Swimmer Who Rescued Over 200 From Camp Mystic During Central Texas Flooding Was 'Team First' Track Athlete At Rider University
U.S. Coast Guard aviation technician Scott Ruskan helped saved over 200 lives in Hunt, Texas late ... More last week. When Scott Ruskan received a phone call at the U.S. Coast Guard where he was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas as an aviation survival technician late last week, he didn't have to think twice. Responding to historic flooding in the Hill Country of Central Texas – located just over 220 miles away – he rushed into action and jumped in a helicopter led by his crew, knowing that every minute on the ground could mean lives saved. After a nearly eight-hour flight that overcame 'some pretty serious weather,' as Ruskan explained to Good Morning America on July 7, the 26-year-old Ruskan eventually made his way to Hunt, Texas – just west of Kerrville – and landed, helping save over 200 lives that were trapped at Camp Mystic, the site of the deadly flooding that has so far killed over 100 lives in total. Dropped into a flood site near the Guadalupe River that saw water rise 20 feet in the fateful hours of July 4, Ruskan met the moment on his first mission with the U.S. Coast Guard and was the first-responder on the ground, acting as a triage coordinator. 'I had about 200 kids mostly. All scared, terrified, cold, having probably the worst day of their life,' he told GMA. 'And I just kind of needed to triage them, get them to a higher level of care and get 'em off the flood zone.' Ruskan's action in a time of extreme crisis was exemplary and ultimately heroic, but it also wasn't surprising, said Rider University Director of Track and Field Bob Hamer, because over his time as a track and field athlete at the New Jersey college, 'he was always a team first guy.' Before Scott Ruskan Was a Coast Guard Swimmer, He was An Athlete At Rider University Four years earlier, in 2021, Ruskan graduated from Rider University, where he was a four-year member of the Broncs' cross country and track and field programs and left with a degree in Business Administration. Hamer said Ruskan often stepped into situations to help the team in a time of need. In 2018, for instance, Ruskan began running the 3,000 meter steeplechase, 'even though he wasn't that good,' Hamer said. 'He took on an event that was gritty and challenging. He worked hard to get better at it.' Then in 2021, Ruskan became the 'glue guy' on the program's 4x800, helping it win a Metro Atlantic Outdoor Track and Field title in 7:40.81. 'He was a guy who would step up,' Hamer said. 'That was important.' Hamer said the Rider program had a slogan it lived by. 'Sometimes your best isn't good enough. You have to do what's required.' While Ruskan wasn't a track and field star during his time at Rider, he exemplified what it took to be a collegiate athlete every day. 'When he got to Rider, he didn't have a tremendous amount of impressive stats,' Hamer said. 'But we thought he was a kid who had potential because he had an impressive amount of character.' A day after Ruskan was flown out of Camp Mystic and his story of heroism started to spread, his sister had posted on social media, explaining the situation. That's how Hamer found out. He texted Ruskan once he saw the news. 'I wrote to him, 'I'm so proud of you,'' Hamer said. 'He called me an hour later on a Sunday morning.' Ruskan joined the U.S. Coast Guard shortly after his time finished at Rider. Hamer said that wasn't surprising, either. Ruskan always thought of others before himself. 'His overall character,' Hamer said. 'He was just one of those guys. He understood what his role was and he was willing to do what the team needed. He didn't seek attention. He was a guy who showed up, gave effort and when it came time to race, he knew when to contribute.' An Important Intervention By Coast Guard Swimmer Scott Ruskan Ruskan was praised for his work in Texas and thanked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who described him as an 'American hero.' On the ground in Kerr County, Ruskan provided 'medical assistance and aided in evacuating' a total of 230 flood victims, according to the U.S. Coast Guard's press release. In the days following the deadly flooding, hundreds of people have lost their lives including those in Kerr County, Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County and Tom Green County. The total death toll is over 100, and at least 160 are still missing in Texas. Ruskan knows the situation continues to be dire. He wrote on Instagram that what transpired in those fateful hours on the ground in Hunt, Texas would have been incumbent on anyone, given the situation. 'I'm getting a lot of the attention for something I think was expected of me and what every [U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer] would do in my shoes. The real heroes are the crew who flew us into this and the crews still working the mission,' he wrote on Instagram. Stories of compassion, however, are what will serve as reminders of the human spirit. In the moments leading into an evacuation in Hunt, Texas, Ruskan was asked by a child if he could bring a stuffed animal on to the helicopter. 'He says, 'Of course you can,'' Hamer relayed of the conversation he had with his former athlete. 'That's a guy who gets it. Whatever will give them comfort in a time of crisis and won't affect the mission, he knew that was important.'
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First Post
09-07-2025
- General
- First Post
How US Coast Guard hero saved 165 children from Texas flooding on first mission
Scott Ruskan, a US Coast Guard rescue swimmer, is being hailed as an 'American Hero' after he saved as many as 165 children from catastrophic flooding at Camp Mystic in Texas. The 26-year-old New Jersey native, who was on his first rescue mission, was the only trained rescuer on the ground when tragedy struck read more Tecas floods: Scott Ruskan was the only trained rescuer on the ground, working without cell service or radio communication. Iage courtesy: Rider University When 26-year-old Scott Ruskan signed up as a rescue swimmer with the US Coast Guard, he knew he'd be saving lives. What he didn't know was that his very first mission would involve airlifting 165 children trapped by catastrophic flooding in Texas. Over the July 4 weekend, torrential rains triggered severe flooding across parts of central Texas. Among the worst-affected areas was Camp Mystic, a girls' camp located in Kerr County, where rising waters from the Guadalupe River left children and staff stranded with no way out. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD That's when Ruskan stepped in. Assigned to manage triage at the site, he was part of the dramatic rescue operation and was seen in footage being hoisted by helicopter from the rooftop of a building surrounded by floodwaters, reports the New York Post. He is now being hailed as an 'American Hero'. 'This is what it's all about, right? Like, this is why we do the job,' Ruskan, a native of New Jersey and former KPMG accountant, said. 'This is why we take those risks all the time. This is why like Coast Guard men and women are risking their lives every day." Chaos at Camp Mystic According to Fox News, the rescue operation began when sudden floods cut off access to Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls located near the Guadalupe River, around 28 kilometres northwest of Kerrville, Texas. The river rose by a staggering 26 feet in just 45 minutes on Friday morning, sending a wall of water through the campgrounds packed with visitors during the holiday weekend. Nearly 200 people, including 165 children, found themselves stranded at the site. Emergency teams had a narrow window to act before the situation became even more dangerous. The Texas National Guard and Air National Guard deployed Black Hawk helicopters as part of the ongoing response. The rescue operation began when sudden floods cut off access to Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls located near the Guadalupe River, around 28 kilometres northwest of Kerrville, Texas. File image/AP What should have been a routine one-hour flight turned into a gruelling six-to-seven-hour mission, Ruskan told CNN. It took four separate attempts, and support from the Air National Guard, for their aircraft to reach the flood-hit zone. From above, Ruskan said he could see the full impact of the flooding. 'I've never seen anything this tragic in my life,' he told CNN. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This video of the Guadalupe was shot in Kerrville, Tx from the Center Bridge. Watch how fast these flood waters were traveling & washing everything in front of it out. It goes from low & barley flowing to over the top of the bridge in around 35 minutes. I sped the video up to… — Clyp Keeper (@DGrayTexas45) July 6, 2025 'I saw a huge crowd of about 200 kids at a campsite,' Ruskan recalled during his appearance on Fox & Friends on July 5. 'We were like, 'Cool, that's where we're going to go and get as many people out as we can.'' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The dramatic rescue Upon reaching the camp, the Coast Guard crew realised they were urgently needed at another, more dangerous site. The aircraft could carry more people if Ruskan stayed behind, so the team made a call; he would remain at Camp Mystic as the triage coordinator. For the next three hours, Ruskan was the only trained rescuer on the ground, working without cell service or radio communication. Still, he focused solely on the kids, many of whom were barefoot, frightened, and still in their pyjamas after fleeing their bunks. A cabin was destroyed by flooding at Camp Mystic. Reuters 'They're having probably the worst day of their life,' he said. 'They're missing friends. They're missing loved ones. They don't know where they are.' While coordinating triage and keeping kids calm, he also directed Army Blackhawk 60s and Coast Guard MH-65 helicopters to small groups of stranded survivors. Military personnel carry life jackets as they arrive to assist with a recovery effort at Camp Mystic. AP Aircraft landed on makeshift helipads, the camp's archery and soccer fields, and Ruskan carefully guided groups of 10 to 15 children, along with at least one adult, to safety. 'My main job was triaging, and then my second job I kind of picked up was just trying to comfort these kids and the family members and counsellors,' he told CNN. Despite the massive rescue efforts, 27 people, including campers and counsellors, died in the floods. At least 10 campers and one counsellor remain missing, as per Fox News. '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 New York 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." STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'An American hero' Scott Ruskan grew up in Oxford, New Jersey, and didn't start out in the world of rescue. In fact, he was once a KPMG accountant before deciding to make a big career switch. In 2021, Ruskan joined the US Coast Guard. He completed basic training and then attended Aviation Survival Technician (AST) school in Petaluma, California, one of the most demanding military training programs in the country, according to a report by the New York Post. After graduation, he was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he continued his advanced training and learned to operate with the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. The recent Texas floods marked his very first real-life rescue mission. The scale of the mission and Ruskan's role in it quickly caught national attention. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised him on social media, calling him an 'American hero.' 'United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskan directly saved an astonishing 165 victims in the devastating flooding in central Texas. This was the first rescue mission of his career and he was the only triage coordinator at the scene,' Noem wrote. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But Ruskan, now hailed as a hero, was quick to shift the spotlight. 'The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground,' he said. 'Those guys are heroic. They were dealing with some of the worst times of their lives, and they were staying strong, and that helped inspire me to get in there and help them out.' With input from agencies
ABC News
09-07-2025
- General
- ABC News
Coast Guard 'American hero' helps save 165 people from torrential floods surrounding summer camp
It was Petty Officer Scott Ruskan's first Coast Guard mission that earned him the title of a hero. Ruskan, who graduated from Coast Guard Swim School just six months prior, helped rescue 165 people from torrential floods surrounding Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas. "There [were] a lot of kids who are probably having the worst day of their lives. They're missing friends, they're missing loved ones, they don't know where they are," he told CNN. "It was pretty traumatic." The county's lowlands along the Guadalupe River are filled with youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old, all-girls Christian summer camp. With fear of the unknown weighing heavily on the girls' minds, the 26-year-old said his main priority was to comfort the scared campers and get them to safety quickly. Bridges and roadways were overcome by floodwaters, and the water was too high for boat rescues; his only option was to help airlift the campers to safety. Without radio reception to the outside for three hours, Ruskan stayed focused on his mission and helped lift people in groups of 10-15. A lot of them were scared girls who were attending the summer camp, worried about the safety of their family and friends. "I had a job to do. Any fear and stuff I had inside, I just pushed it to the side," he said. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Ruskan "an American hero" in a post on X, though like all good heroes, Ruskan said he was just doing his job, one that "anyone" could have done. He said it was the young girls he helped save who truly deserved the praise. "You guys were so brave and tough, and it made me a better rescuer because you guys were acting so bravely," he said, addressing the girls. Officials said at least 160 people are still believed to be missing in Texas, days after flash floods killed over 100 people during the July Fourth weekend. At least 27 campers and counsellors died at Camp Mystic, and five campers and one counsellor have still not been found. Search-and-rescue teams have been using heavy equipment to untangle and peel away layers of trees, unearth large rocks in riverbanks and move massive piles of debris that stretch for miles in the search for the missing people. Crews in airboats, helicopters, and on horseback along with hundreds of volunteers, are part of one of the largest search operations in Texas history. Outside the cabins at Camp Mystic where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered on a grassy hill that slopes toward the river. Also in the debris were pink, purple and blue luggage decorated with stickers. Among those who died at the camp were a second grader who loved pink sparkles and bows, a 19-year-old counsellor who enjoyed mentoring young girls and the camp's 75-year-old director. The flash floods erupted in the early hours on Friday after massive rains sent water speeding down hills into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 8 metres in less than an hour. The wall of water overwhelmed people in cabins, tents and trailers along the river's edge. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Some campers had to swim out of cabin windows to safety, while others held onto a rope as they made their way to higher ground. Questions mounted about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as "flash flood alley". Leaders in Kerr County, where searchers have found about 90 bodies, said their priority was recovering victims, not reviewing what happened in the hours before the flash floods. ABC/wires
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
J.J Watt Has 1-Word Message for U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer
The devastating floods in central Texas have claimed dozens of lives this week, impacting local communities and families across the region and state. During the week, many first responders and rescue workers have been praised for their efforts, including Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan. Ruskan helped evacuate nearly 200 people from Camp Mystic near the Guadalupe River, one of the largest problem areas due to the flooding. 'My main job was triaging, and then my second job I kind of picked up was just trying to comfort these kids and the family members and counselors,' Ruskan said in an interview with the New York Post. 'I mean this is like probably the worst day of their life. They're in a terrible situation, they have friends and family unaccounted for, missing, unknown status, and they're looking to me and all the rescuers for guidance and comfort.' Ruskan appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday, and he received a shoutout from an NFL legend. "Hero," said former NFL star and current CBS analyst J.J. Watt. Watt, who became a star with the Houston Texans, has been a longtime supporter of the Armed Forces and military. His reverence for servicemen and women comes from his grandfather, who was a veteran in the Korean War. Watt once released a pair of sneakers in collaboration with Reebok as a tribute to his grandfather. "The best part of the shoe is right here. Intertwined in the shoe it has James Watt, which is my grandpa's name. It has his division, his battalion, his regimen, so it's a really, really, special shoe," he said back in 2019. All proceeds from the shoe went to Honor Flight, a charity that sponsors trips to memorials in Washington D.C. for veterans. Over 100 people have died in the Texas floods, including several children. Crews continue to search for survivors amid the destruction and devastation. 'The hardest part is working through the emotions. We know that there's children missing and there's families missing — trying to work through the emotions,' Josh Gill, an incident coordinator for the United Cajun Navy, told CNN. 'We want to hit every treetop, every rubble pile and find as many people as we possibly can, and we still hope, every morning, and we pray that we're going to find survivors.' J.J Watt Has 1-Word Message for U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 8, 2025
