Latest news with #ScottRuskin
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Coast Guard Swimmer Who Rescued 165 from Camp Mystic amid Texas Floods Speaks Out: 'Real Heroes Were the Kids on the Ground'
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
Hindustan Times
07-07-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Who is Scott Ruskan? ‘American hero' who saved 165 lives in Texas floods
A 26-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer is being called an 'American hero' after saving 165 people during his very first rescue mission. It happened during severe flooding in Central Texas. Scott Ruskan organized medical care for the injured while 12 helicopters from the Coast Guard, National Guard, and US Army carried out rescues. (@northamericanrescue/ Instagram) Petty Officer Scott Ruskan, from New Jersey, was part of the emergency team sent to Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls that was one of the worst-hit areas along the Guadalupe River. Kristi Noem, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, praised him on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, 'United States Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and Petty Officer Scott Ruskin 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. Scott Ruskin is an American hero.' Also Read: 'I love you': Last text of Dallas sisters found dead with 'hands locked together' in Texas floods Who is Scott Ruskan? Ruskin was raised in Oxford, New Jersey. He was former KPMG accountant. He enrolled in the US Coast Guard in 2021, and completed his basic training, then went to Aviation Survival Technician school in Petaluma, California, according to New York Post report. He was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he kept up advanced training and learned how to work with the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. The Texas flood response was the first time he was sent out on a rescue mission. Ruskan was the only triage coordinator on the ground. He organized medical care for the injured while 12 helicopters from the Coast Guard, National Guard, and US Army carried out rescues. His actions helped save many lives in the middle of a crisis. Also Read: Texas floods: 51 dead, rescue mission ongoing; Trump's job cuts linked to delayed forecast | 5 points Ruskan shared in an interview on 'Fox and Friends' that while they were in the air, they spotted a large group of around 200 kids gathered at a campsite. That sight led them to focus their attention on Camp Mystic. Scott told 'Fox and Friends', 'Yeah, as far as right now, we've been getting our tasks from higher above mostly from the Army as of right now. But a lot of it has just been large state triages, so we were at Mystic yesterday for a long period of time.' 'We probably got about 200 people out of there alone, and it was just, yeah, we just saw a huge crowd, about 200 kids at a campsite. So, we're like, cool that's where we're gonna go, and we're just gonna get as many people out as we can until they're all gone.'
