As the tragic flood and death toll continue in Texas, Dick Eastland, the owner of Camp Mystic, is being praised as a hero after giving his life while attempting to save campers. Eastland had been a former camper himself and purchased the camp in 1974 along with his wife, Tweety Eastland. The camp had been in the family since 1939 and Tweety and Dick were third generation camp directors. Eastland was an integral part of the West Kerr County community, where he coached youth sports and served on the Hunt Independent School District Board. Eastland was last seen trying to lead a group of girls from their cabin to safety. His body was later found near his car.

Tributes poured in for Eastland, who was looked to as a father figure by the campers. “Dick was the father figure to all of us while we were away from home at Camp Mystic for six weeks. He was the father of four amazing boys, but he had hundreds of girls each term who looked up to him like a dad,” wrote Paige Sumner, a former camper and longtime friend of Eastland. Sumner recalled summers spent with the Eastlands, caring for his boys, and being the youth leader of their son, James, who tragically passed away in 2015. Sumner also recalled Eastland’s valiant fight against brain cancer. Eastland’s final act of trying to save others didn’t surprise Sumner. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers. He had already saved so many lives with the gift of Camp Mystic.” Eastland’s wife, Tweety, has been reported to have survived the flooding. The Eastland’s also have three living children, all of whom are involved in the day-to-day running of Camp Mystic’s operations

To date, over 100 people have died in Kerr County. 27 campers and camp counselors have been confirmed dead from Camp Mystic, with one counselor and 10 campers still missing. Texas governor Greg Abott has vowed to continue searching for all those missing. And while the last few days have been fraught with tragedy, heroic stories like Eastland’s have also emerged. Scott Ruskan, a rescue swimmer for the U.S. Coast Guard, has been lauded for his efforts in coordinating the rescue of 165 people from Camp Mystic. He had just finished his training six months prior. “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,” the humble Ruskan said. “The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground. 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.” While acknowledging that the majority of Camp Mystic was able to be rescued, Ruskan said those who had lost their loves was “still super sad.” “There’s still a lot of people missing and unaccounted for, so the mission’s not over yet. It’s not over for us.”