this is "nightline." >> tonight, the survivors and victims' families of the deadly bachelor party demanding answers and taking action. why they say that doomed whitewater rafting trip that claimed five lives should never have happened. and the regulations they believe could save others. plus a royal deed for those in need. the markle sparkle. inside the real princess diaries, injecting style and warmth into the royal family. how meghan markle is carrying on princess diana's legacy. and home for thanksgiving. one teenage kindness of strangers, and the gift that will change his life. first the "nightline 5."

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maybe you're with the family you got. (all) ooh! or maybe the one you've chosen. it's culture salad. our holidays don't all look the same. am i saying it well, l'chaim? l'chaim? and maybe that's what makes us great. make the dream yours. ikea. good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight, the survivors and loved ones of a destination bachelor party turned deadly are fighting for tougher regulations in costa rica after a whitewater rafting trip took a tragic turn. abc's adrian bangert on why they

believe it could have been prevented. >> it was supposed to be an amazing time. within five minutes it was two, three days of nothing gut great memories, within five minutes literally everything turned upside down. >> reporter: indescribable grief floods lewis beltran and his closest friends' consciousness after the tragedy that would change the lives of 14 men forever. >> i thought i was having a heart attack. lifeless, i couldn't move my head, arms, legs. >> every time my legs would hit rocks i tried to kick up to have air, then swept in again. >> reporter: what was supposed to be an idyllic destination bachelor party ahead of beltran's upcoming wedding turned into a complete nightmare. >> the raft literallyhalf? >> just pulled us down from the suction of the water. >> reporter: a trip to costa rica, including a much-anticipated rafting excursion, turned deadly after their rafts capsized, killing four friends.

the groom's brother, sergio lorenzo. jorge castle. andreas dennis, who they call andy. >> i lost four brothers. all these guys -- >> you love them? >> yeah. >> reporter: costa rica lures tourists to its beautiful shores with promises of adventures like zip lining and river rafting. it's a place over 1 million u.s. tourists visit annually, making up the majority of all visitors to costa rica. was this a freak accident? or was this something that could have been prevented? >> it absolutely could have been prevented. i mean, they could have told us, hey, there's flood warnings. >> should never have been on this river. we literally didn't know better. >> reporter: their families are demanding answers and action, pleading with costa rican i suc conditions. >> if they would have told us there's an alert, it would have been simple, there's an alert,

let's go back. >> reporter: on october 18th, when the men boarded their flight to costa rica, they say danger was the last thing on their minds. >> multiple times during the trip, several of us was like, this is probably one of the best trips. it's been a little bit of a stressful year, so this was a big relief for me, especially spending with my friends. >> reporter: it was the time of their lives. they were together on an adrenaline-fueled, fun-packed adventure. >> we had such a good time on the atv tour as a group. we all stopped and sat down, took off our helmets, everybody was like, wow what a rush. >> reporter: everything would change on that fateful last day of the trip. the group, excited as ever, arrive for a rafting excursion, guided by a local company on the popular naranjo river. >> bright and sunny, we didn't think there was rain. >> no sign. >> reporter: that morning costa rican authorities reported weather advisories and alerts,i never told to them by their tour guides. >> when you go on vacation, you don't really think that something's going to happen to

you. >> you let your guard down. >> yeah. >> you never think of anything like this happening. neither did we. >> reporter: they waited on shore several minutes. the tour guides delayed the launch of the rafts due to water levels. >> suiting up. >> raining. >> kind of getting our stuff together, they told us we were going to have to wait. i guess the river was too high or something. to wait it out because it might have dropped or could drop within a couple of minutes. >> that's exactly what we did. we waited it out. they came back, they said, hey, we're ready to go. we said, okay, perfect. >> from your takeoff point you can't see. there's a section you see it was flat, but two minutes in, it's a big bank, past that bank also when we saw ultimately what we were going to go through. >> how many minutes were you inside the rafts before it took that turn and you all got into the water? >> probably about three minutes, four minutes. >> describe what happened next. three, four minutes in? >> when i went in, it was just -- survival. just try to get air in. you get sucked in. for me, every time my legs would hit rocks, i would try to kick

up to grab air, you get swept in. just survival. >> reporter: the current was so strong it not only carried them downstream, it pulled them under. >> it was just trying to grab ahold of a rock or anything that was near us. >> all i remember is that once my brother was sitting behind me. when we hit the water, we went under together. and he was hanging on to my life vest. and i was kind of hanging on to him. and within the midst of everything, we slid from each other. >> reporter: the men describe being swallowed up and spit out by the intense currents, blinded by the water. all of them say the river's currents were strong enough to rip their clothes and shoes off and leave them breathless. >> when i got to shore and i knew what i had gone through, i was very worried. a slim chance that all of us are going to be okay. >> reporter: as they attempt to gather what little strength they have, the search begins to try and find each other. >> i was with andy for most of the time. and most of my energy was helping andy while i was in the water. he was on the raft while i was

holding on to the raft. the raft flipped again. i never saw him again. i saw the authorities hold his chain in a bag. they wanted to keep it as evidence. and i literally got up and i -- i grabbed it from him. and i said, this is going to his soon to be -- to his fiancee. and i said, no -- they said, no, this is evidence. that's when i got full confirmation. when i saw his chain. >> reporter: in all, five men lost their lives that day, including one of the rafting guides. questions remain as to whether the rafting company was even accredited. the costa rican health ministry responsible for issuing licenses to rafting companies tells abc they can't comment because it's an open investigation. for some members of the group, including marco caso, the most devastating part was yet to come. contacting the parents of those

who were lost. >> first of all, the worst day of my life. the hardest thing i've ever done in my life was calling both of my families. >> reporter: janet dennis lost the man she raised as a son, andreas, andy. she sit the families are far from having any answers as to what went wrong. >> to this day i don't have any answers. little bits and pieces that you hear from the other boys. the injustice of no kind of safety measures. >> reporter: while still grieving, the parents and survivors are adamant that new guidelines and rafting warnings be put in place for what has been a largely self-regulated industry. >> i want for the other mothers to know what really is going on there. the risk that they take when they do this kind of tourism. >> we want to get help from the u.s. aid department to help us the best possible way. >> reporter: just today the state department confirms a section on adventure tourism was

added to their website in response to this incident, providing tips for any tourists considering a visit to costa rica. just a month after the tragedy, the trauma is still very real. raise of hands. all who have had trouble sleeping? raise of hands if you've had flashbacks of being under the water or trying to pull somebody from the water? >> reporter: while fighting to erase the nightmare in their minds they go between sorrow and joy as they remember the four who didn't survive. >> we all lost a brother, a son, a friend, a cousin, a father. so it's -- it's something you don't see every day. >> reporter: sergio, the oldest of the group and the brother of the groom. >> he was just very humble. very, very quiet, very to himself. you never heard him complain. >> ernesto, a driven entrepreneur with big deeps. >> he made those dreams happen, he was something else. >> reporter: andy, described at

everyone's best friend, was going to propose to his girlfriend after the trip. >> he had already planned to do it when we got back. it just didn't happen. >> reporter: jorge, age 22, the baby brother of the group. >> the amount of people he touched at his age is just amazing. >> reporter: closer now than ever before, the survivors wear the same shirt to honor their friends and cousins and brothers. >> ernesto, which was the "f" and integrated the other line, which was my other cousin. andy, sergio, george. it's the way we're representing them living in that moment. >> reporter: they hope to represent them by doing something to warn others from ever going through what they're going through. >> i feel like if we can save one person through this entire tragedy, if one person is watching and decide, we're not going to book that trip, or we're going to do more research. if we save one life, then our friends didn't die in vain. >> reporter: for "nightline,"

i'm adrienne bankert in miami, florida. >> now that wedding is postponed until next year. our thoughts are with those affected by this heartbreaking story. up next, the fashion, compassion, and familiar grace meghan markle brings to the royal family. ♪ while you dwell within it ♪ you are ever happy there daddy, it's christmas! ♪ childhoods, joyland never let go of your dreams. the mercedes-benz winter event is back. lease the glc 300 for $459 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. breathe right strips are designed to simply when nighttime nasal congestion closes in, open your nose right back up. ♪ breathe better. sleep better. breathe right.

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♪ meghan markle has a long history of using her celebrity status for advocacy and humanitarian work. and in her first six months of marriage to prince harry, a new abc documentary chronicles how markle is modernizing the monarchy.

on the eve of thanksgiving, the hub community kitchen in west london is getting a guest chef of majestic proportions. the duchess of sussex, meghan markle. apron covering her burgeoning baby belly, visiting a kitchen located near grenfell tower where the tragic fire broke out last year. as any royal knows you've got to be able to switch it up. days efforter, she and husband prince harry dazzled at the annual royal variety performance. meghan markle's new life all chronicled in abc's new documentary "the real princess diaries." >> when you look at the duke and duchess of sussex, there is an enormous electricity between them. >> if ever there was a fairy tale, it's those two. i mean, the love just exudes. >> for me they've become the duke and duchess of huddles. >> you want to hate them but

it's too cute so you love it. >> meghan sort of bought the american dream before she even met prince harry. that is now just magna tied on the world stage. >> just by being mixed-race, american, actress, divorced, these are all really unconventional terms when it comes to talking about the wife of a prince in the uk. >> the bride has arrived. >> reporter: it was, in a word, really magical. >> there was the choir. ♪ darling darling stand by me sa'ic south --ore slaves in >> those royals, they have never seen a black bishop in windsor chapel talking about slavery.

they didn't know what hit them. >> the queen's okay with it? everyone else should be okay with it. >> reporter: right before their first royal tour, an even bigger announcement. >> we also couldn't think of a better place to announce the upcoming baby. >> duchess meghan is expecting a child. >> congratulations. >> congratulations. >> oh, baby sussex is everything. >> i hope it's a girl. i do. i'm biased. >> this is a family that for centuries has been made up predominantly of white europeans. so here you have this child who has ttti royalty a aanrind slaves. how powerful. >> i feel so proud to live in a city that can have so much diversity. i felt so immediately embraced. >> reporter: but as the newest member of the firm, she's not afraid to take a fewll never fo

meghan markle's official entrance to the scene. i'll never get overha tt ahe li. >> londoners cheer their enra >> oh, allrsovedhe the princess of wales. >> kate was a breath of fresh air. >> when kate wears something, it sells out instantly. now we have the meghan effect. >> i think the meghan effect is bigger than theeculation, kind sparkle as it's called. it's lighting a fire in kate. >> yes, perhaps she isitintl t icompetition. but i don't think kate sees it as competition. >> working together as family, do you ever have disagreements about things? >> ha ha ha! oh, yes. >> i think if anything, kate a little bit more of a homebody and she's more happy to sort of

let meghan markle take some of the spotlight and the scrutiny off of her. >> well, she brings hollywood glamor that has a k eosrp realle herself, much as princess diana, princess of the people. >> reporter: and she's carrying on the royal legacy of her mother-in-law in a way perhaps she would be most proud. >> meghan has that human touch that diana was so famous for. >> princess diana had a real sense of compassion. it's almost like diana's legacy continues. >> hiv does not make people dangerous to know. so you canhagi >> often we don't know a lot about what family think. however, with meghan, because she had all these years where h >> of course trump is divisive. hink about female voter savvyl feminist. >> women need a seat at the

table, and in some cases where this isn't available, you know what? then they need to create their own table. >> you're not going to be involved in politics if you're a member of the royal family. >> women's suffrage is aboutmine gave one of her first speeches in fiji notes with her,he h that all ha before she went up. >> everyone should be affords the opportunity to receive education hat they want, but that they have the right to receive. >> meghan is the feminist princess of our dreams. we say, look, there's our american girl over there, monar >> hope. there's hope in the duchess of sussex and harry. there is civility, something we are lacking in today's world in america. >> meghan, so good to meet you. >> they connect with the public in a way the rest of the royal family has never been able to

do. it's already becoming clear meghan's exactly what not only harry needed, not only what the royal family needed, but what the british public needed and longed for as well. >> be sure to tune in tomorrow for more on meghan's new life, "the real princess diaries," thanksgiving night, 9:00, 8:00 central on abc. up next, a reason for the season. an amazing homecoming. ss♪le, cket is aa meaning you probably don't clean as often as you'd like. for a quick and convenient clean, try swiffer wetjet. there's no heavy bucket, or mop to wring out, because the absorb and lock technology traps dirt and liquid inside the pad. it's safe to use on all finished surfaces tile, laminate and hardwood. and it prevents streaks and hazing better than a micro fiber strip mop, giving you a thorough clean the first time.

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york family has much to be thankful for this holiday season. it was an mobile home coming for one teenager with a rare skin disease on tadden island, arriving in a new home built with himn mind. the steven seller tunnels foundation donating the brand-new smarthome to help the -yeaold live a more comfortable life. the previous home was hard for him to navigate.

>> i've waited so long to be independent, and i can't believe -- that i finally have a home that's -- that will be accessible. >> the family got the keys to the mortgage-free home, giving them a new beginning. >> i'd also like to thank m family. my parents and my siblings. because they deserve this just as much as i do. >> for john, there truly is no place like home for the hodays. and that's "nightline." if you ever miss an episode during this busy holiday season, you can catch us on hulu.

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