Warren County Coast Guard hero who saved 165 girls earns one of sports’ highest honors

⭐Scott Ruskan received the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPYs

⭐The Rider graduate helped rescue 165 girls during deadly Texas flooding in 2025

⭐Ruskan left after the ceremony to rejoin Coast Guard flood rescue efforts in Texas

A Rider University graduate from Warren County who helped rescue 165 people during a flood in Texas was honored with a prestigious award at the ESPYs on Wednesday night

On his first mission as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, Warren County native Petty Officer Scott C. Ruskan rescued 165 girls from the Camp Mystic summer camp during flooding in Texas in July 2025.

He was presented with the Pat Tillman Award for Service, named after the former NFL player who re-enlisted as a U.S. Army Ranger following 9/11 and was killed by friendly fire in the line of duty.

A helicopter flies over the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. after a flash flood, Scott Ruskan

Torrential rain in Kerr County, located northwest of San Antonio, caused the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in only 45 minutes, washing away homes and vehicles. Two hundred girls were stranded at a girls' camp.

Ruskan said he quickly realized that no one else was helping the campers. He organized a rescue that got them out via helicopter, 10-15 girls at a time, before more help arrived.

"I took maybe like 5 seconds to myself to look around and said 'OK, there's a lot of people here that need to get out of here, and I'm the one getting them," Ruskan said.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called him an American hero.

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Ruskan credits camp counselors and Coast Guard crew

At the presentation, Ruskan said there were many heroes that day who weren't getting an award, like the camp counselors who were already getting campers out of the rising water of the Guadalupe River.

"You guys are alive today because of your own bravery and your quick action. They actually saved way more lives than we did. I'm obviously also not a pilot. I would never have been able to get to that evacuation site if our pilots, Ian and Blair, and the flight mechanic Seth didn't navigate the helicopter safely in what is probably the worst flying conditions I or the rest of our crew or a lot of people in the Coast Guard have ever experienced," Ruskan said.

Ruskan said his trip to New York to accept the award was cut short as he is part of the rescue effort in Texas for the current flooding.

Rider honored Ruskan, a member of the class of 2021, with an honorary Doctor of Laws and the Young Alumni Award at its commencement in May.

“We could not be more proud of Scott and the extraordinary courage, selflessness and commitment to service he demonstrated in Texas. His actions represent the very best of what it means to put others first, and this recognition is richly deserved," Rider University President John R. Loyack said. "The entire Rider community joins in congratulating him, and we are honored to call him one of our own.”

Ruskan's former track coach,.Bob Hamer, said he was the right person in the right place.

"We are all very proud of him, and it is wonderful to see him be a great representative for the Rider community. This is such an incredible honor, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of his journey," his former coach and director of Rider’s Cross Country and Track and Field program said.

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