A youth hockey team鈥檚 attempt to find a kidney donor for their coach has gone viral, with hundreds of thousands of people viewing their video.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the nicest thing anyone鈥檚 ever done for me,鈥� Stephen Gillis told CTV Vancouver.

鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievably kind. They鈥檙e just amazing kids.鈥�

Gillis is the coach of the Spirit, a peewee team in the Vancouver Minor Hockey Association. He was diagnosed with Crohn鈥檚 disease more than a decade ago.

When he started experiencing cramping and other unusual symptoms last summer, he suspected it was his Crohn鈥檚 flaring up.

A trip to the hospital revealed a very different story: a rare and incurable kidney disease that Gillis had likely developed unknowingly a couple years ago. His kidneys were functioning at less than 10 per cent.

鈥淢y blood was basically vinegar,鈥� he said.

Gillis says he is able to maintain a 鈥渞elatively normal鈥� life for now by taking medication and drinking a lot of water when he exerts himself, but will likely eventually need to go on dialysis if he doesn鈥檛 receive a kidney transplant.

When Gillis鈥� players 鈥� some of whom have been on his team for years 鈥� heard about his predicament, they wanted to do something to help.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a great coach and he teaches us a lot,鈥� player Jordan Stewart said.

鈥淲e thought it would be a great idea to put a video on social media to try to find a kidney for him.鈥�

features members of the peewee team explaining why they think so highly of Gillis and requesting that any willing living kidney donor with an O-group blood type get in touch.

鈥淗e鈥檚 very kind to us, and so we wanted to do something back for him,鈥� player Paige Stewart told CTV Vancouver.

The video was posted Jan. 3. By Monday morning it had racked up more than 350,000 views across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 鈥� a level of outreach Gillis found incredible.

鈥淭he reason I got involved in coaching was to try and make a difference, try and build better people,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing the right thing here and teaching them that they can make a difference.鈥�