Today he would have to be the happiest amputee in Australia.

After suffering two years of excruciating pain from the dirt disease, melioidosis, he was pleading with doctors to make the cut. 

"I was all for it. I was sick of being in hospital, sick of doctors and bandages and pain killers, it was too much," Mr Roberts said. 

Now, the 63-year-old Salvation Army volunteer is happily back at his post doing what he loves the most - helping needy people.

He has been through hell and back after receiving a small scratch on a fishing trip two years ago.

"I was getting firewood and I didn't take any notice at all at the time," Mr Roberts said.

"I scratched my leg on a branch and melioidosis set in from a bug in the dirt."

Four days after that scratch, he couldn't walk.

What followed was a blur of life changing decisions.

Living in Pine Creek at the time, he was rushed from the clinic, to Katherine Hospital, and quickly flown to Darwin.

"I don't remember too much about that time but I know that at Darwin they cut the front of my leg out. It was pretty bad.

"It never healed."

Mr Roberts spent three and a half months lying in a hospital bed hundreds of kilometres away from home and his beloved chihuahua miniature, Fatso, before he was allowed to head home.

He still had to attend hospital in Pine Creek on a daily basis, before he moved to Katherine, one year ago.

"They tried a skin graft that wouldn't take and then I got an infection which went into my blood. My blood pressure was sky high.

"Four weeks ago doctors at Darwin Hospital amputated my leg above the knee.

"That was my only option or I would have gotten golden staph and golden staph kills you.

"I wasn't expecting to lose so much of my leg, but I have accepted it."

Melioidosis is an infectious disease found in soil and water, particularly in the Northern Territory, northeast Thailand and Vietnam.

For most people, the infection causes flu-like symptoms, but for some with underlying health conditions, melioidosis can be deadly.

Mr Roberts is waiting on a prosthetic leg, but is well aware he may spend the rest of his life in a chair.

Thanks to the welcoming support at the Salvation Army's Katherine Doorways Hub, he is surrounded by friends and has a purpose to his day.

"I used to come in when [the Hub] first opened to have a cup of tea and talk to people.

"I lived a bit of a lonely life, just me and my dog, and I had plenty of time to do good deeds.

"I like helping people, it is in my heart."

So when he saw the Hub was in need of volunteers he jumped at the chance.

Now that he is back from his operation, nothing has changed, and his outlook is as positive as ever. 

"I came back in a wheelchair and yes, there are certain things I can't do, but I get help.

"Within myself I feel better because I know there are people who care and I know there are people [at the Hub] who need help.

"I have a beautiful neighbour called Pat, she pushes my scooter to the car and when I come home she is there to pull it out for me... she helps with shopping and laundry.

"That is where I miss my leg most, I am a man who has always done things for myself."

Before the operation, Mr Roberts and his dog volunteered at the Hub for nine months, switching between making cups of tea and toasting loaf after loaf of bread for the stream of people who would access the drop-in centre every morning.

Now, with mobility an obstacle to overcome, a 'toast station' has been set up especially for this well-liked man, allowing him to sit in his wheelchair and easily reach the bread, toaster, butter and condiments.

Before anyone has arrived, he has buttered about 10 loaves of bread in preparation.

As the morning progresses and the line steadily grows for breakfast, he chats away happily, keeping up a steady stream of bread, toasted to perfection.

Mr Roberts has a long road ahead, learning to walk again with a new prosthetic leg, but he says he will always work as a Salvation Army volunteer.

"I realised I was losing my leg before they took it. It was in my mind and I had accepted it," he said.

"If I can walk, marvellous, if I can't, well then, I am in a chair, and I have accepted that.

"I decided I had to come back and be the 'toast man' even though I still have a lot to go through."

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