A U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer credited with helping save the lives of 165 people who were trapped at Camp Mystic during last year’s Kerr County flood will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPY Awards.
Petty Officer Scott Ruskan will be among the honorees at the annual ESPY Awards on July 15, ESPN executives said.
Ruskan had finished his training about six months before the rescue mission to Camp Mystic, the Coast Guard said. He was part of a four-person flight crew but reportedly was the only first responder rescuing campers on the ground at the time. Much of Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls on the Guadalupe River, was flooded when the river rose, and 25 campers and two counselors died.
ESPN said Ruskan’s crew made “a deliberate call” to leave Ruskan on the ground so the helicopter could carry more children per trip at Camp Mystic, which at the time reported 200 girls were trapped.
“For three hours, with no radio and no cell service, he was the only trained responder on site — setting up triage, organizing safe zones, carrying children barefoot in the dark and comforting each one before moving to the next,” ESPN said.
“What set him apart was that he was the only person who stayed behind — voluntarily grounded — so others could be lifted out to safety.”
Ruskan, a former college track/cross country athlete who attended Ryder University, received the Legion of Merit award by President Trump during the State of the Union address in February. He was reunited there with Milly Cate McClymond, one of the girls he rescued.
The ESPY Awards, which is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, are produced annually by ESPN and honors individual and team athletic achievements, memorable moments in sports and extraordinary acts of courage.
Ruskan’s award is named for Pat Tillman, who was a star linebacker at Arizona State University and then played professional football with the Arizona Cardinals before leaving the NFL to become an Army Ranger. Tillman was killed during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2004.
Other honorees include Jason Collins and Jim Abbott.
Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player, died in May of brain cancer. He will posthumously be honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for courage for his impact on LGBTQ+ visibility in professional sports.
Abbott, former MLB pitcher who was born without a right hand, will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for his 10-year career.