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NORTH ATTLEBORO - A car careened out of control and into a gas station on Route 1 Thursday afternoon where it struck a gas pump, knocking it over on top of a woman who was filling her gas tank at the time.

The driver of the car suffered an apparent seizure, but no one was seriously injured and there was no explosion or fire as a result of the 1:40 p.m. accident at George's Shell station near Draper Avenue, police said.

"We were pretty lucky. All the safety equipment in place to prevent a fire from happening functioned correctly. That's the way we like it," fire Lt. Joseph Flynn Jr. said.

Valves designed to shut off automatically to prevent gasoline from leaking when a pump is broken worked properly. Flynn also credited the gas station attendant for following safety procedures and shutting down the station's electricity to prevent any problems.

Police Capt. Daniel Coyle commended "quick action" by Officer Scott Weiner, who was on patrol nearby, and responding firefighters in securing the scene. An unknown Good Samaritan, who saw the accident, rushed to help the woman struck by the gas pump.

"An onlooker pulled her out from under the pump. She was stuck under the pump and he pulled her out," Weiner said, adding that the man left the scene without giving his name.

The woman struck by the pump, Christine Purkis, 51, of North Smithfield, R.I., suffered chest and hand injuries, but declined to be taken to a hospital in an ambulance. Weiner said she was going to seek her own medical attention.

The driver of the car, Teri Kugel, 29, of North Attleboro, suffered an apparent seizure as she was traveling south on Route 1, police said. Kugel lost control of her car, went over the concrete curb median, and into the parking lot of the gas station. The car went between two gas pumps on one island, but struck a pump on the second island, Weiner said.

Police and firefighters closed off the gas station for part of the afternoon while repairs were made to the pump.