By JILL GARDINER

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

 

They were friends, at Tottenville High School in the 1960s and played football  together for a now-defunct Pleasant Plains team.

But Ralph Lake and Ken Malik lost touch with each other when they went off to col­lege.

Thirty-five years passed before they were reunited through a mutual friend. That was three years ago, shortly after Lake lost his fa­ther to prostate cancer and while Malik was also fighting it.

They are both fanatically active and outdoorsy

And, when the opportunity presented it­self; they were up for a physical challenge in the name of a cause they believed in.

Last month, the two buddies climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, to raise money for the Prostate Awareness Foundation, which Malik, 58, founded after being diagnosed with the ill­ness.

Lake, who now lives in Austin, Texas, and Malik, who now lives in San Francisco, were among the few in their 22-person group to actually reach the 19,335-foot summit.

The six-day Kilimanjaro expedition, was part of the International Prostate Cancer Climb and included several groups.

Malik, Lake and the two others who climbed for the Prostate Awareness Foundation raised about $25,000, money that will be invested into education and outreach.

The climb required exten­sive training.

"You're walking so slowly that you’re hardly moving,” Lake said of the final steep stretch, which often does climbers in. “Just putting one foot in front of the other at that altitude is a major effort.”

Malik was deemed cancer-free last December.

He was diagnosed eight years ago when the cancer was in its early stages. Instead of undergoing surgery, radia­tion, or other conventional treatments, he adopted a strict non-dairy, quasi-vegan diet and radically changed his lifestyle through exercise, nutritional supplements and meditation. Miraculously, his methods worked.

Malik’s foundation does not dispense medical advice or suggest taking his bold path around conventional treat­ment.

But it does aim to educate men about the strategies he used and to promote lifestyle changes as a preventative measure to ward off cancer and other disease.

Mostly, it stresses investi­gating all options.

'CLOSET DISEASE’

“This is, a closet disease,” said Malik, who has two kids. “Men don’t want to talk about it because of the sexual con­notations. I'm saying that no matter what treatment path you choose, you need to take a proactive approach."

Malik climbed the 22,841­foot Mount Aconcagua in Ar­gentina, which is known as the "Roof of the Americas,” on a prostate-cancer expedi­tion in 2001.

But this was Malik's first time on Kilimanjaro and Lake’s first time on one of the world's "Seven Summits." Both trained with climbs in the United States in the mouths leading up to last month's expedition.

Kilimanjaro is a moonscape volcano, where the terrian in­cludes jungles, pastures and snow. The final ascent, which began at midnight on Sept 18, included a 4,000-foot rise in elevation. Neither Lake nor Malik used oxygen tanks. Both opted for herbal and organic supplements.

Lake is a retired engineer who also has two grown kids.

The men still have family on Staten Island and strong ties to the borough. It was Lake’s mother who told the Advance about his climb. Malik is due back here for his 40th high school reunion.

Both consider their experience on Kilimanjaro the most challenging physical under­taking of their lives.

Their friendship remains as solid as the mountain.

Jill Gardiner covers health issues for the Advance. She may be reached at gardiner@siadvancecom.