Parents of Aurora Masters, 5-year-old killed in swing set accident, want her to be remembered

A 5-year-old Colorado girl, Aurora Masters, tragically died a few weeks ago after being strangled by a swing set in the backyard of her family's home.

Although this tragedy has gained national attention, her parents don't want the world to remember her by her death, but by the way she lived.

Born on July 10, 2018, in Fort Collins, Colorado, which is located about 63 miles north of Denver, Aurora Masters was full of life and managed to bring a community together through her music, performances and wise character she exhibited as a young child.

Although Aurora loved Princess Elsa from "Frozen", "Ghostbusters" and "Wednesday", her parents say she was not your average 5-year-old. Krystal and Tom Masters told USA TODAY what they want the world to know about their daughter's life.

This is Aurora's story.

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Aurora Masters was 'precocious'

With her mom going to college for performing arts, you could say Aurora had a natural talent from a young age. After watching the Netflix series “Wednesday” with her dad Aurora became obsessed with the character. So much so that she planned to look exactly like Wednesday. She asked her dad if she could get bangs.

Aurora’s mom then got a hair appointment scheduled, but Aurora was so excited she couldn't wait that long.

“There's a lot of scissors around because it’s Christmas time and we’re wrapping paper. But she had to have gotten in the mirror and was so extra super careful," Tom Masters said. "She didn't cut them even or straight, but she only cut the hairs that should have been a part of the bangs. I was honestly pretty impressed.”

“She is the epitome of the word precocious,” Krystal Masters said.

'Magnetic light that made people better': Aurora was a child who brought joy to everyone around her

The Masters’ neighbor was having a tough time. Aurora didn’t know about it, but somehow she unintentionally helped her neighbor change her mindset.

“[Our neighbor] was really having a rough time from a situation at work and was genuinely distressed over, losing sleep. Then my daughter comes [outside] in the loudest screaming fashion and screams, ‘let it go,’" Tom Masters said. "She's like, ‘you know what? Yeah, let it go!’ That's how it was with her. She was 100% in there's never any hallways.”

Tom Masters served in the U.S. Army for seven years as a sergeant in the infantry. When Aurora was born, he had been struggling with his mental health. He ultimately wanted to be there for his child, but he needed to find an outlet that would help outside of the traditional therapies.

A co-worker asked him to attend an open mic at a smoothie bar where he would play the guitar. He agreed but decided to bring his daughter with him. Thinking nothing of it, he started noticing his daughter clapping and when she began to walk she started mimicking his friends’ stage presence and became a new addition to act.

“Aurora was the thing that made it comfortable to talk in the beginning. Because I wasn't dealing with mental health stuff going on," he said. "It was a lot of people that were coming together for a lot of reasons, they really did need the community and it just kind of happened around Aurora. And we know within a few months, we're all sitting at the same table.”

Within a few months Aurora brought together a group of people that would become longtime friends just by being herself.

“She became music baby and she has for everybody," Tom Masters said. "She just has this magnetic light that made people better.”

‘She was a leader’

After six months of karate, Aurora received an award for bravery.

“She was too young to be testing, she didn't have the skill level. but she was demonstrating those tenets of being a black belt," Krystal Masters said. "She had a strong powerful voice, she had respect, she was a leader, she embraced everything fully.”

Outside of karate, Aurora continued to be a leader and mastering tasks that many adults have trouble with. Tom Masters said Aurora would get herself ready for school even though she didn't have to.

“[I} got the plan rolling for this getting ready for school thing and one point I go up there like, ‘Hey, what are these clothes doing here?’ She’s like, ‘those are my clothes for school.’ ‘Like did you pull your clothes out and get ready so that you can get ready faster?’ ‘Yup.’ I didn't do that part, she got what I was giving her. It was really awesome. It's really too bad. She was the cool kid. Coolest person I’ve ever met,” Tom Masters said.

Remembering Aurora

A memorial service for Aurora will be held on Saturday, June 8. A spaghetti dinner will be served since spaghetti was her favorite food, Krystal Masters said.

To honor Aurora’s memory, the family plans to create a foundation with a focus of boosting someone’s mental health through a music and bringing the community together whether they are a musician or a supportive clapper.

"We've already had people over to barbecue, you know, try to reclaim the backyard where the accident happened," Tom Masters said. "We're just moving on in the way that she would want, like a 'Frozen' song, 'The next right thing.' That’s how we’re honoring her so far."

Aurora's parents are thankful for the public's support, generosity

The Masters family wants to thank those who have donated and shown their support.

“We have 400 people that have donated, that's nothing to the cards that we've received, the personal messages we've received," Krystal Masters said "They just got the meal train all set up for us, we have food and snacks being provided, like our community is very amazing.”

With Aurora’s light and presence her father feels like his mental health struggles might return, but people who have reached out have shown him enough kindness in order to take this new journey one step at a time.

"This is completely oppositional of the thing that had me feeling so alone, like it's genuinely going to change things forever for me. The amount of love and just the number of people if nothing else," Tom Masters said. "People have reached out and said, 'I'm a good person, I'm a good dad.' It's mind bogglingly kind and we're really genuinely in awe."

Krystal Masters said although this experience as a mom is a tough one she is going to cherish the memories she has with her daughter and shares this advice:

"I guess my biggest takeaway from all of this is that I really encourage people to live and love every day," she said. "There's lots of bad in the world but enjoy the small things. Dance with your kids. Because you never know when it's going to be gone."

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter).