Allan Sparkes

In August 2016 Sparkes was awarded Australia's fourth highest bravery decoration, the Commendation for Brave Conduct, for saving the life of an Aboriginal man who had fallen onto the path of an oncoming train at Redfern railway station in April 2014. The Commendation was followed by the award, in January 2017, of a Medal of the Order of Australia for Sparkes' service to mental health support organisations and to the community.

Sparkes and Detective Senior Constable Gavin Dengate responded to an urgent call for assistance to rescue a boy trapped in a flooded storm water drain. From the entrance of the drain, an object, believed to be the missing child, could be seen about 80–100 metres away. Tied to a rope, Sparkes entered the drain and was rapidly washed 20 metres along the pipe by the ferocity of the current before realising the rope was inadequate. With a more substantial line, he re-entered the drain even though breathing space in the pipe had been reduced by the rising flood waters and his own bulk displacement. Flood waters washed him some 80 metres downstream before he could establish that the object was only debris. The drain was now almost totally engulfed in flood water, leaving only a small air space, and Sparkes was in danger of drowning as frantic attempts were made by his colleague and others to haul him against the flow to the surface.

Sparks has been active in various community and social programs since the early 2000s. Among others, he is an ambassador for Beyondblue (since 2013) and the wounded serviceperson charity Soldier On (since 2014), and has also worked with suicide prevention initiatives, the Heart Foundation, and advisory and charitable organisations connected to New South Wales Police. Sparkes is also Vice Patron of the Australian Bravery Association and President of the Cross of Valour Association of Australia. In 2013 he published his autobiography, The Cost of Bravery.

About mid morning on 3 May 1996, Sparkes, a detective senior constable with the New South Wales Police, rescued a boy trapped in a flooded underground storm water drain following record rainfalls at Coffs Harbour.

Allan John Sparkes, CV, OAM (born 1958) is a retired detective senior constable of the New South Wales Police, serving from 1977 to 1998. He is one of the five recipients of the Cross of Valour, Australia's highest bravery decoration, which was awarded for his actions in the rescue of a child from a flooded storm water drain in 1996.