A grandmother-of-eight was decapitated by a bin lorry outside a primary school in California.
Maria Rubalcava de Ruesga, 69 - who had recently survived cancer - was struck as the truck turned right at a roundabout in Santa Ana.
Parents were dropping their children off at Pio Pico Elementary school feet away.
Many of them helplessly watched as Mrs Ruesga was “crushed under the tires” at around 8am on November 19.
A GoFundMe page set up by her family to cover her funeral expenses said she had just battled pancreatic cancer and was “just beginning to feel like herself again”.
Mrs Ruesga lived just a block away and had been walking to the grocery store.
According to the Santa Ana Police Department, the driver of the garbage truck remained at the scene and “cooperated with the investigation”. The garbage lorry was towed following the collision.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
ABC7 reported that Pico Pio elementary school immediately offered support for anyone that witnessed the horrific scene.
Some families even kept their children indoors long after the crash to shield them from the harrowing aftermath.
In a tribute, Mrs Ruesga’s loved ones wrote she was “loving, caring, and strong”, adding: “Losing her so suddenly has left us in complete shock
“She leaves behind a heavy void in our hearts that can never be filled.”
Mrs Ruesga leaves behind eight grandchildren, who relatives said already missed her “more than words can express”.
Santa Ana Police said: “A trash truck was involved in a fatal traffic collision with a pedestrian in the 600 block of S. Shelton Street.
“On November 19, 2025, at approximately 7.56am, the Santa Ana Police Department received multiple calls reporting a traffic collision in the residential area of Shelton and Bishop Streets.
“Officers, along with the Orange County Fire Authority, responded to the scene and discovered that a trash truck collided with a pedestrian.
“The pedestrian, identified as 69-year-old Maria Rubalcava de Ruesga of Santa Ana, was pronounced dead at the scene OCFA.”
