Woman saves badly burnt koala from Australian bushfire blaze

A woman used the shirt off her back to rescue a badly burnt koala from the Australian bushfires.

The injured animal was seen struggling over burning bushland in New South Wales before Toni Doherty ran up to it, bundling it in the shirt off her back, and dousing it with bottles of water.

She told 9News: "He just went straight into the flames, and I just jumped out of the car and went straight to him.”

Ms Doherty named the koala Lewis after one of her grandchildren and took him to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.

The hospital has told 9News Lewis’ health is “50-50”.

"His feet are completely burnt and he has burns to his chest and stomach,” a spokesman said.

"He has been bandaged and given antibiotics but will take a lot of looking after, if he pulls through."

The koala, who is 14-years-old, was later filmed eating eucalyptus leaves as he recovered.

The hospital said it has been inundated with injured animals as fires ravage New South Wales and Queensland. Hundreds of koalas have been killed so far.

In Queensland, a Cattle Dog cross-breed named Bear, has been trained to find and save koalas and other small Australian marsupials caught up in the bushfires.

Six people have died in fires on the east coast in recent weeks.