Outback four-wheel drive instructor Jol Fleming was in the intensive care unit at Alice Springs Hospital when global insurer Allianz called to alert him of the suspension of his carer's payment.

Mr Fleming, a paraplegic since a car accident in 1981, receives two regular payments administered by Allianz's TIO Motor Accidents Compensation Scheme on behalf of the NT Government.

His older brother and next of kin, Adrian, said one payment was an average NT wage and the other was to pay for carers when Jol was at home; when he is hospitalised, the carer's payment is suspended, usually with notice.

But Jol recently contracted the flesh-eating bacterial infection necrotising fasciitis and was only expected to survive for a short time.

"One of the doctors comes up and says, 'Well, Jol, you probably have two days left'. That's pretty hard to take," Adrian said.

The family decide to take Jol home.

Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — this story contains an image of people who may have died.

Family and friends travelled from near and far to farewell Jol. ( Supplied: Fleming family )

Adrian, who had been by his brother's side in the hospital, was unaware of the suspension of the payment.

"He needs carers in the morning and in the evening, helping him to get up, helping him with his meals, getting in and out of his car," he said.

"Apparently, TIO were advised or learned on October 20 that Jol was admitted to hospital, so the money for his carers was suspended."

Adrian contacted TIO to question why he had not heard from the insurer, given the complexity of the situation.

"The person at TIO said to me, 'Well, we called Jol'.

"I said: 'But on October20 my brother has just undergone major surgery. He's in intensive care. How can you make a phone call to talk to somebody who can't even speak?'

"I was aghast. I mean, I just couldn't believe it."

Jol Fleming with his mates at Yuendumu. ( Supplied: Fleming family )

It was an emotional time for everyone involved given Jol's palliative prognosis, Adrian said.

"I think [the insurers] have got to just be a little bit more aware of the fact that they're dealing with people who are under stress, and don't treat the people that you're responsible for as a number. Treat them as family. Talk to them.

"Those benefits will start again when Jol comes home, but they've just not handled this very well. They've handled it in a very unprofessional way with no empathy for the persons concerned."

Representatives from the TIO and Allianz have declined to comment on the basis of privacy.

Living wake

Jol's disability never held him back —he not only became one of the outback's leading four-wheel drive instructors, but he also established the off-road club in Alice Springs.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he led many expeditions and pioneered the challenging Hay River track along with traditional owner, the late Lindsay Bookie.

The track is isolated, leading north from Poeppel Corner (where the borders of the NT, SA and Queensland meet) for more than 600 kilometres across the Simpson Desert.

Jol and Adrian Fleming's parents were Baptist missionaries. ( Supplied: Fleming family )

With the infection ravaging Mr Fleming's body, his family decided to hold a living wake where people came from all over the world to pay their respects.

Friends and family from Yuendumu, where Jol's parents, Tom and Pat Fleming, were Baptist missionaries, travelled 300 kilometres for the wake.

Jol said he appreciated the effort they made to come and say farewell.

"I thought it was great. I'm buggered, I'm on my last legs, I'm out of here and I'm scared shitless," he said.

"[I'm scared] of the unknown."

He said he wanted to be cremated.

"They're going to take me out to Batton Hill, old Lindsay Bookie's camp (on the Hay River track), and they're going to send half of me up in some fireworks and they're going to shoot me skywards."

Lazarus rising

Jol Fleming recovering from life-saving surgery at Royal Adelaide Hospital. ( Supplied: Fleming family )

But in an extraordinary turn of events, extensive blood tests done a week after the wake revealed a change in prognosis.

"Those blood tests showed that this terrible bacterial infection, necrotising fasciitis ... there was no evidence of the infection in his blood," Adrian said.

Jol was flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Royal Adelaide Hospital for life-saving laparoscopic surgery, he added.

"He's on the road to recovery. I have to pinch myself — how can this be? One minute he's going to die, and the next minute he's getting better.

"His goal is: 'I'm going to get better, I'm going to get in my F250 truck with my caravan and we're all going to go bush.' That's what's driving him — coming back to the desert."