The team deployed around 7 a.m. Friday from Corpus Christi, about 200 miles south of where the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, had risen from about 3 feet to nearly 30 feet. Floodwaters in the area had swept through and battered several youth camps on the river banks — including Camp Mystic, the summer camp where they were headed.

Scott Ruskan had never been on a rescue mission when he boarded a helicopter to find a crowd of about 200 campers stranded by deadly flooding on July 4, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

He stayed behind alone to comfort terrified campers while floodwaters rose around them. This Coast Guard hero was on his first mission.