Scott Ruskan Rescued More Than 160 Kids From the Flash Floods in Texas

When it comes to a horrific tragedy, there is always a silver lining, even though it's still quite painful. It's hard to imagine it now, but recall if you will the infamous line "Let's roll," which was uttered by Todd Beamer on Sept. 11, 2001. Todd was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked while en route to San Francisco. Along with a few fellow passengers, Todd planned on attacking the hijackers. The last words he spoke were "Are you ready? OK. Let's roll."

There are so many stories like Todd's featuring ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Sometimes these acts of bravery seem to come from nowhere. There are other times when the individual responsible was drawn to the kind of work that requires such courage. By all accounts, Scott Ruskan is one of those people. The rescue swimmer put his life on the line to save people who were caught in the Texas floods.

In July 2025, flash floods hit central Texas, devastating the area and causing the deaths of at least 80 people. Of those dead, 27 were girls and counselors at a summer camp in Kerr County. Evacuation footage of Camp Mystic shows cars flipped upside down and at times piled on top of each other, while children are led safely out of the area.

At 4:15 a.m. on July 4, the National Weather Service for Abilene/San Angelo posted a flash flood emergency warning to X, which was expected to last three hours. In less than two hours, the Guadalupe River surged 30 feet. Around 7:00 a.m., Scott was on duty at the U.S. Coast Guard's Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas when his team was told to respond to the deadly flooding.

"I just happened to be on the duty crew," the 26-year-old told Good Morning America on July 7. He told GMA host George Stephanopoulos that this was some of the worst weather he's ever flown through. "What should have been an hour flight took us about seven or eight," said Scott. It took them four tries to be able to get boots on the ground. It was decided that Scott would stay at Camp Mystic.

Scott and his crew ultimately decided that leaving him behind was good for two reasons. Firstly, they would have someone on the ground to conduct search and rescues. Secondly, there would be more room on the helicopter for the individuals they rescued. "I kind of discovered I was the only person there, as far as first responders go," recalled Scott.

Scott came upon close to 200 kids who he said were scared, cold, and probably having the worst day of their lives. He ended up working with the United States Army National Guard, which was bringing a task force and rescue swimmers. They set up two landing areas near an archery field and a soccer field. At that point, Scott led 10 to 15 people at a time to one of the landing zones.

Remarkably, this was Scott's first rescue mission after joining the Coast Guard a year ago. When George called him a hero, Scott gave all the credit to the kids who remained calm during a truly terrifying time. He attributed his success to the intense training he received which according to Scott, is some of the best in the world.