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Mr Sardelich, who is now 64, was honoured with the Commendation for Brave Conduct in the Federal Government’s Australian bravery decorations on the 24th of March 2021. The award itself is only ever given to those who perform acts considered worthy of recognition. Though the incident happened over four decades ago in 1978, his heroism has not gone unnoticed or forgotten.

During the incident, Mario Sardelich was only 23 and working as a carpenter for the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, which is known nowadays as Sydney Water Corporation — a government-owned statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water to New South Wales. 

While Sardelich was out on business, he managed to hear cries for help coming from around the Manly Dam area. A group of students were celebrating the end of the school year with a picnic, however an accident led to two boys drowning in the waters of a popular swimming spot in Manly Vale.

By the time he had arrived, the boys were desperately trying to stay afloat, which prompted him to dive into the water to try and rescue them. Though he succeeded in rescuing one of the boys, the other had sunken out of reach and disappeared deep beneath the surface of the water despite the man’s best attempts to find him.

The teenage boy Sardelich managed to rescue that fateful day has opted to remain anonymous, mentioning that it was a particularly traumatic event he’d rather not revisit. He was good friends with the other boy who’d drowned, Peter Mastroianni, who was only 16 at the date of his passing. 

The Commendation for Brave Conduct itself is a 30mm-long silver-gilt sprig of mimosa mounted on a red ribbon 32mm wide and 90mm long. The sprig’s centre is 19mm from the bottom of the ribbon and 16mm from either edge, mounted at a 45 degree angle. 

This prestigious award is to be worn solely on the left breast on all occasions where medals must be presented, and the ribbon bar can be worn with service dresses at any time, however the lapel badge can be worn with civilian clothing.

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