The founder of a famous Australian bakery says he is lucky to be alive as he continues to battle a dangerous flesh-eating bacteria.

Beechworth Bakery founder, Tom O'Toole, first thought he was succumbing to the flu when he first began feeling ill and noticing pain in his left leg after flying from his north-east Victorian home to Port Hedland in Western Australia to give a motivational talk last month.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: This story contains imagery some may find disturbing.

He was quickly hospitalised in Port Hedland, and said that medical staff struggled to work out what was causing the excruciating pain in his leg.

"They opened it up and there was all this dead, fatty tissue," Mr O'Toole said.

"It was really painful."

His blood pressure also began to plummet.

He was quickly flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Royal Perth Hospital, where medical staff began treating him for necrotising fasciitis — a flesh-eating bacterial infection.

"They couldn't stop it!" Mr O'Toole said.

"My leg's going all purple and I thought 'I'm going to lose my leg', and then thought 'I'm going to lose my life'.

"A few doctors said you don't normally survive this."

It has been a month since the bacterial infection was detected and Mr O'Toole has since received five surgical scrapes to remove the dead tissue, and also has a vacuum pack working to suck out dead tissue.

He has been moved to a hospital in Melbourne to be closer to his family, and has several weeks left in hospital before he is expected to be discharged.

Mr O'Toole believed he caught the infection from a scratch he received while working in his Beechworth garden.

He is now preparing for a skin graft once all the dead tissue has been removed and is hoping for a full recovery.

Despite still being in hospital, he considers himself lucky that he can still walk.

While Mr O'Toole is a motivational speaker, he said the journey has taken its toll.

"I've got to survive it first, I haven't felt very motivational at times," he said.

"I've felt very emotional at times, and very sick."

Flesh-eating bacteria in Australia

Necrotising fasciitis is a soft-tissue bacterial infection.

Human tissue breaks down as bacteria multiply and release destructive toxins.

Serious cases can infect entire limbs and even be fatal.

Tom O'Toole says he hopes to make a full recovery after a bacterial infection attacked his left leg and left him hospitalised for more than a month. ( Supplied: Tom O'Toole )

Monash University's Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Allen Cheng, said that similar cases of flesh-eating bacteria are usually found in specific parts of Victoria and are caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans bacteria.

He said this infection often does not look severe on the surface and instead can present as small nodules and ulcers, despite the infection slowly and extensively eating away at flesh underneath the skin.

Professor Cheng said early detection is vital in being able to stop the infection with simple antibiotics.

"There's been some research suggesting that the time from exposure, of when people get infected, to when they start noticing nodules is in the time of six months," he said.

"So that does give people the opportunity to be seen early if they notice something's wrong.

"But because it grows so slowly people can often put it off and not present until later when the infection's more advanced."

Professor Cheng said that cases of the ulcer caused by the Mycobacterium ulcerans bacteria in Australia are believed to be caused by mosquitos and possums, and are specifically found in Victoria's Geelong, Gippsland, and Mornington Peninsula areas.

Signs of the bacterial infection can include unusual skin lesions, sores, nodules, and ulcers that are not healing.

Professor Cheng said there is increasing awareness about this particular Victorian flesh-eating infection, but both public and medical awareness is lacking in areas where the ulcer is not as common, such as north east Victoria, where Mr O'Toole lives.

"Certainly, around Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula it's up on people's radar a lot more," Professor Cheng said.

"The main message is for people to be aware that this infection does occur and does occur in those parts of Victoria.

"But also for doctors for north east Victoria, there's not going to be much experience with this infection, and certainly doctors can ask others for help."