Raj Gupta's own house had been destroyed by the fires, and, although he was staying in emergency housing in Bateman's Bay, he travelled back to Malua Bay every day to keep his pharmacy open.
Millions of people around the world watched an SBS news feature on the pharmacist online, and his story touched many hearts. Health Departments took note of that and several states have now made special ‘bush fire’ provisions for people whose prescriptions burned, or who are cut off by road.
They can get medication without a prescription from a community pharmacist until the end of March.
With the power out, Mr Gupta's pharmacy had been operating on a 'cash only' basis, without EFTPOS. He wasn't concerned.
"Payment was never a consideration at all - there was just an extraordinary set of circumstances and it's not much for a small business to let their customers pay later when it's convenient to them."
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